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The Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the 10 DOT agencies that deal with intermodal transportation Its purpose is to ensure the safe and secure movement of people and goods FRA field inspectors regularly inspect railroad track signal and train control systems as and operating practices They also investigate complaints Definition A federal railroad is a railway in the United States that is controlled by the government Federal Railroad Administration FRA which is part of the US Department of Transportation creates and enforces regulations governing railways and regulates funds for railroads and conducts research to improve rail transportation The FRA is part of the US Department of Transportations intermodal transportation division and its chief executives are the Administrator as well as the Deputy Administrator The agency supervises all freight and passenger transportation that uses the nations railway network The agency also consolidates the federal funding for rail transportation and assists in the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor passenger service The agency also regulates the ownership and operation of intermodal facilities like tracks rights of way equipment real estate and rolling stock It also coordinates federal rail transportation programs FRAs responsibilities include establishing through regulation following the notice and comments are allowed the procedure by anyone can report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security problems or shortcomings The agency also establishes policies conducts inspections and assesses the compliance of its rail laws in six technical disciplines which include track signal track and train control as well as motive power and equipment operating practices as well as hazmat and highwayrail grade intersections The agency has the responsibility to make sure the railroad transportation system is secure economical and sustainable The agency also requires that railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training for their employees In addition the agency sets and regulates railroad rates to ensure that the public receives an equitable price for their transportation services Additionally to that the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces regulations to prevent discrimination against railroad workers and protect whistleblowers from retaliation from railroad companies The agency also establishes an procedure through which railroad employees can file complaints against the companys actions The agencys primary mission is to facilitate the safe efficient reliable and secure movement of goods and people for a strong America now and in the future The FRA accomplishes this by overseeing the safety of railroads regulating railroad assistance programs conducting research to support better safety of railroads and national rail transportation policy and coordination as well as supporting rail networking development and assisting the private sector manage railroads In the past railroads were huge monopolies that had no competition The railroad industry was able to abuse its dominance in the market as a result Therefore Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to prevent the abuses committed by railroad monopolies Purpose Federal railroads are governmentowned agencies that set rules regulate rail funds and conduct research to improve the rail system in the United America It is responsible for the railroad infrastructure of the United States and manages passenger and freight railroads It is one of the ten agencies within the US Department of Transportation It is also charged with maintaining and expanding existing rail systems ensuring the ability of the rail industry to meet the growing travel and freight demands and providing leadership in national and regional system planning Safety is the governments main responsibility in rail transportation The Federal Railroad Administration FRA is in charge of this and it has several divisions responsible for overseeing the countrys freight and passenger rail operations The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest of them with approximately 350 inspectors It is responsible for conducting safety inspections in six different technical disciplines including track signalling and train control equipment and motives operating procedures hazmat and highwayrail grade crossings FRA has additional departments that include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development This department oversees programs that aim at improving freight and passenger railway transport including the Northeast Corridor Future This department is responsible for grants given to railways and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nations rail requirements Another important duty of the FRA is the enforcement of certain federal laws that pertain to railroads and their employees This includes preventing railroads from discriminating against employees and making sure that all railway employees injured receive transportation to the nearest hospital for initial aid treatment The law also prohibits railroads from deny or delay medical treatment for injured railway workers The FRA is the main regulator of the passenger and freight rail industries but there are other agencies which manage the economic aspects of rail transportation Surface Transportation Board is responsible for determining rates and governing economics in the sector It is also responsible for regulating railroad mergers and line sales construction and abandonment After an open consultation period the agency is accountable for establishing regulations that will allow anyone to file a complaint about any alleged rail safety violations Functions Rails transport goods and people from and to cities in the developed world as well as villages in less developed countries They transport raw materials to processing and manufacturing factories and then the final products from these facilities to stores and warehouses Railroads are a critical form of transportation for many vital commodities such as coal oil and grains In 2020 freight rail moved over a quarter of the countrys total freight volume PDFThe PDF file contains Federal railroads function as a business just like other businesses with departments for marketing sales operations and an executive department The department of marketing and sales consults with customers and potential clients to determine what services they need and how much they should cost The operations department then develops the rail services that satisfy those requirements at the cheapest cost to earn money for the railroad The executive department oversees the entire operation and ensures that each department is operating efficiently The government supports the railways by a variety of ways such as grants and subsidised rates for government traffic Congress also offers funds to help build new stations and tracks These subsidies are usually in addition to the revenues the railroads earn from tickets and freight contracts In the United States the government owns the passenger railway Amtrak It is a quasipublic forprofit company with the United States Government as a major stockholder A key purpose of the Federal Railroad Administration FRA is developing and enforcing safety regulations for railroads This includes regulating the mechanical properties of trains as well as the safety and health of railroad employees FRA also collects data on rail security to identify trends areas that need improvement or attention from the regulatory side and to determine trends FRA also has other projects to improve the safety and economy of railroad transportation in the United States The agency for example aims to reduce the obstacles that hinder railroads in adopting positive train control PTC PTC is a safety system that uses sensors and onboard computers to automatically stop the train when it is too close to a vehicle or other object fela law firm In the 1820s and 1830s the first railroads in America were built primarily in New England and MidAtlantic Railroads helped speed up industrialization and brought more food products to the market in these regions This made the country more selfsufficient and less dependent on imports In the latter part of the 19th century the railroad industry enjoyed the benefits of a Golden Age in which new more efficient rail lines were built and passenger transportation became popular The governments efforts to expand the railroad system were a major factor For example the government offered land grants to homesteaders to encourage them to move to the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads collaborated to build the first transcontinental railroad which allowed travel from New York to San Francisco in six days However in the early part of the 20th century the demand for railroad passenger services slowed and other modes of transport like airplanes and cars gained popularity while the stifling of regulations hindered railroads competitiveness economically The industry was plagued by a string of bankruptcies service cuts bankruptcy and delayed maintenance In addition a misguided railroad regulations from the federal government led to the decline of the railroad industry Around 1970 federal authorities began to ease the restrictions on railroads regulatory requirements The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee the economic aspects of the industry such as railroad rates and mergers The Federal Railroad Administration was also created which sets rail safety regulations and is one of 10 agencies in the US Department of Transportation that supervises passenger and freight transportation Since then the railway infrastructure of the United America has seen a great deal of investment The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt for instance to accommodate faster and more modern highspeed ground transportation HSGT There are also efforts to develop more efficient systems for freight rail FRA hopes to continue working with all transportation agencies to ensure the safety and reliability of rails in the coming years The role of FRA is to ensure that the nations transportation system is running as efficiently as it can