pinkregret09
User Name: You need to be a registered (and logged in) user to view username.
Total Articles : 0
The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces safety regulations for rail It also provides rail funding and conducts research on strategies to improve rail infrastructure FRA inspectors on the ground employ discretion to decide which cases are worthy of the lengthy and precise civil penalty procedure This ensures that the most serious violations of punishment are punished SMARTTD and its allies made history in 2024 when they convinced the FRA that two persons should be in the cabs of freight trains The fight continues Safety The Federal Railroad Administration implements a number of safety measures to protect the health of its employees and public It is responsible for developing and enforcing safety regulations for rail It also manages rail funding and conducts research on rail improvement strategies and technologies It also formulates and implements a plan to maintain current infrastructure services and capacity and strategically develops and enhances the national rail network The department expects all rail companies to adhere to strict rules and regulations and empower their employees and provide them with tools to be successful and secure This includes an anonymous closecall reporting system establishing labormanagement occupational safety and health committees with full participation from unions and antiretaliation clauses and providing employees with the required personal protective gear Inspectors of the FRA are at the leading edge of enforcing rail safety regulations and laws They conduct routine inspections on equipment and investigate hundreds of complaints Civil penalties may be applied to those who break the rail safety laws Safety inspectors from the agency have a broad discretion on whether an individual violation is in line with the legal definition of a crime that is punishable by civil penalties In addition the Office of Chief Counsels safety division reviews all reports received by regional offices to determine legality prior to assessing penalties This discretion is exercised at the regional and field levels to ensure that civil penalties are only used when they are necessary To be guilty of a civil violation a rail employee must know the rules and regulations that govern his or her actions They must also knowingly not adhere to these rules The agency does not believe that a person who acts on a supervisors directive is guilty of committing a willful crime The agency defines the general railroad system of transportation as the whole network that passengers and goods travel within cities and metropolitan areas and between them The trackage of a plant railroad within a steelmill is not considered to be part of the general rail transportation system even though it is physically connected Regulation The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible to establish regulations for train operations such as those relating to safety and the movement of dangerous substances The agency is responsible for managing rail finance which includes grants and loan for infrastructure and service improvement The agency works with other DOT agencies and industry to develop strategies to improve the nations rail infrastructure This includes ensuring the existing rail infrastructure and services addressing the need for additional capacity expanding the network strategically and coordinating the regional and national systems planning and development While the majority of the agencys work focuses on freight transportation it also manages passenger transportation The agency is aiming to provide more options for passengers and connect people with the places they want to travel to The agency is focused on enhancing the passenger experience enhancing the safety of the current fleet and ensuring the rail network continues to operate efficiently Railroads must comply with a number of federal regulations which include those that deal with the size and composition of crews on trains This is a controversial one in recent years with several states enacting legislation that requires twoperson crews on trains This final rule codifies the minimum crew size requirements at an international level and ensures that all railroads are held to the same safety standards This rule also requires that every railroad that has a oneperson crew notify FRA and submit an analysis of risk This will allow FRA to compare the parameters of each operation to those of a twoperson standard crew operation In addition this rule changes the criteria for reviewing a special approval petition from to determining whether an operation is consistent with railroad safety to determining if approving the operation would be as safe or safer than a twocrewmember operation During the public comment period on this rule many people supported the requirement of a twoperson crew A letter from 29 people outlined their concerns that a single crew member might not be as quick to respond to issues with trains or grade crossing incidents or assist emergency response personnel at a highwayrail grade crossing The commenters emphasized that human factors account for more than half all railroad accidents and they believe that a larger team will ensure the safety of the train and its cargo Technology Trains for passenger and freight use various technologies to increase efficiency increase security and improve safety Rail industry jargon covers various unique terms and acronyms Some of the most wellknown include machine vision systems also known as drones and railinspection systems that are instrumented driverless train rolling data centers and unmanned aerial vehicle also called drones Technology isnt only able to replace certain jobs It empowers people to do their jobs better and more safely fela railroad settlements for passengers use apps on smartphones and contactless fare cards in order to increase passengership and boost the efficiency of their system Other innovations like autonomous rail cars are coming closer to reality The Federal Railroad Administration as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure safe reliable affordable and costeffective transportation in the United States is focusing on modernizing the railway infrastructure This is a multibillion dollar project that will see tunnels and bridges rebuilt tracks and power systems upgraded and stations rebuilt or replaced The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law will significantly expand the agencys rail improvements programs The Office of Research Development and Technology of the agency is an essential part of this effort Recent National Academies review of the office revealed that it was successful in engaging with maintaining communication and utilizing inputs of a wide range of stakeholders It still needs to consider how its research contributes towards the departments primary objective of ensuring the safety of people and goods via rail One area in which the agency may be able to increase its effectiveness is in identifying and assisting the advancement of automated train technology and systems The Association of American Railroads the primary freight rail industry organization that focuses on research policy and standardsetting and has created a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help in developing industry standards for implementing the technology The FRA is interested in the groups creation of a taxonomy for automated rail vehicles which defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation This could be applicable to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road The agency will also want to know the level of risk to safety that the industry sees when implementing a fully automated system and whether the industry is contemplating additional security measures to reduce the risk Innovation Railroads are adopting technology to increase worker safety and make business processes more efficient and ensure that the freight they move reaches its destination in good condition These innovations include cameras and sensors that monitor freight to new railcar designs that help keep dangerous cargo safe during transit Certain of these technologies allow railroads dispatch emergency personnel directly to the scene of an accident to minimize risk and minimize damages to property and individuals One of the most prominent innovations in rail is Positive Train Control PTC which will inhibit collisions between trains and train situations where trains are on tracks that shouldnt be and other accidents resulting from human mistakes The system is comprised of three parts of onboard locomotive systems that track the train wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive and a massive server that collects and analyses data Passenger railroads also embrace technology to enhance security and safety For instance Amtrak is experimenting with the use of drones to assist passenger security staff in locating passengers and other items onboard trains in case in the event of an emergency The company is also examining ways to use drones They could be used to check bridges and other infrastructures or to replace the lights on railway towers which are dangerous for workers to climb Other technologies that could be utilized for railways for passengers include smart track technology which can detect the presence of objects or people on the tracks and send out a warning to drivers if its unsafe to travel These technologies are particularly effective in detecting unsafe crossings or other problems in the evenings when traffic is less and there are fewer witnesses to an accident Another significant technological advance in the railway industry is telematics which allows railroads shippers and other stakeholders to see the status and condition of a traincar via realtime tracking Traincar crews and operators can benefit from greater accountability and transparency which will allow them increase efficiency as well as avoid unnecessary maintenance and reduce delays when delivering freight