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The Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration is one of the DOT's 10 departments involved in intermodal transportation. Its mission is enabling the safe and efficient transportation of people and goods. FRA field inspectors examine the railroad track as well as train control and signal systems as well as operating procedures. They also investigate complaints. Definition A federal railroad is a type of rail transport in the United States that is controlled by the federal government. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) establishes and enforces safety rules, oversees railroad funding, and researches ways to improve rail transportation systems. The FRA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation's intermodal transportation division and its top executives are the Administrator and the Deputy Administrator. The agency is responsible for all passenger and freight transport that utilizes the railway system of the United States. Additionally the agency is also involved in the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates the government's support for rail transportation. Additionally, the agency oversees the management and ownership of all intermodal infrastructures such as tracks, rights-of-way, equipment real property, and rolling stock. It also handles the overall coordination of federal rail transportation programs. FRA's duties also include establishing, through regulation and after an opportunity for comments an procedure that anyone can notify the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security problems or issues. In addition, the agency sets up policies and conducts inspections to assess compliance with its rail safety laws in six technical disciplines: track, signal and train control motive power and equipment operating practices, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings. The agency is in charge of ensuring that the railway transportation system is operating in a safe, economic and sustainable way. This is why the agency requires railroads to maintain an environment that is safe for workers and provide adequate training for their employees. The agency also determines and enforces the cost of railroad services to ensure that the public is billed in a fair manner for transportation services. Additionally the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad employees and also protects whistleblowers from being retaliated against by railroad companies. The agency also establishes an avenue for railroad employees to submit complaints about the conduct of the company. The agency's primary mission is to ensure the safe reliable and efficient movement of people and goods to ensure a secure America both now and in the future. The FRA accomplishes this through controlling safety of railroads, coordinating railroad assistance programs and conducting research that supports better safety of railroads and national rail transportation policies and coordination, as well as supporting the development of rail networks, and helping the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were essentially monopolies, with no competition. As a result, the industry frequently abused its position in the marketplace. This is why Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to prevent abuses by railroad monopolies. Purpose The federal railroad is a federal agency that makes regulations, manages funds for rail and studies ways to improve the nation's rail transport system. It supervises passenger and freight railroads, and manages the nation's rail infrastructure. It is one of ten agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also charged with maintaining and expanding current railway systems, ensuring capability of the railroad industry to meet growing demand for freight and travel as well as providing leadership in national and regional system planning. Security is the primary responsibility in rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for this, and has several divisions that oversee the country's passenger and freight railroad 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, signal, and train control, motive and equipment, operating procedures, hazmat, and highway-rail grade crossings. FRA has several departments that include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. fela railroad settlements oversees programs aimed at improving freight and passenger rail transportation, like the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for the grants for railways and collaborates with other agencies to plan the nation's rail requirements. Another important duty of the FRA is the enforcement of federal laws pertaining to railroads and their employees. This includes stopping railroads from using their power to discriminate against workers and ensuring that injured railway employees are taken to the nearest hospital to receive treatment. It also prohibits railroads from refusing or delaying medical treatment for injured railway employees. The FRA is the primary regulator of the freight and passenger rail industries, but there are other organizations which manage the economic aspects of rail transport. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for determining rates and governing the economics of the industry. It has regulatory authority on railroad mergers, line sales, construction and abandonment. After an open consultation period, the agency is also responsible for establishing regulations that allow anyone to file a complaint about any alleged rail safety violations. Functions Rails transport people and goods from and to cities in developed countries as also to villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials from manufacturing and processing facilities, and finished products from these facilities to stores or warehouses. Rail is a crucial mode of transportation for a number of essential commodities including grain, oil, and coal. In 2020, freight rail carried more than a quarter of nation's total freight volumes [PDF]. The federal railroad is managed like any other business. It has departments for marketing, operations, sales, and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales talks with customers and potential clients to determine the services they need and how much they should cost. The operations department then develops the rail services that meet these needs at the lowest cost to generate revenue for the railroad. The executive department oversees the entire operation, ensuring that every department is running smoothly. The government provides support to railways in a variety of ways from grants to subsidised rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides funds to support and build new stations and tracks. These subsidy funds are often added to the money that railroads earn through ticket sales and freight contracts. Amtrak is owned by the United States government. It is a quasi-public, for-profit corporation with a significant stockholder, which is the United States government. A key function of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is establishing and enforcing safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical state of trains and the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also collects data on security of rail lines to identify trends areas that require improvement or attention from the regulatory side and to identify trends. FRA also has other projects that improve the safety and efficiency of rail transportation in the United States. For instance, FRA is working to remove obstacles that could delay railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety system that utilizes sensors and computers to stop a train at the moment it is too close to an object or vehicle. History In the 1820s-1830s the first railroads in America were built, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. The railroads accelerated industrialization and brought more food to market in these areas. This helped the country become more independent and less dependent on imports. In the latter half of the nineteenth century the railroad industry was experiencing an “Golden Age,” during which many new railway lines that were more efficient were built and passenger travel via train became increasingly popular. The government's efforts to expand the railroad system was an important factor. For example, the government gave homesteaders land grants to encourage them to move to the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads worked together to complete the first transcontinental railroad which enabled travel from New York to San Francisco in just six days. However in the early part of the 20th century, the demand for passenger railroad services declined and other modes of transport like automobiles and planes gained in popularity, while the stifling of regulations hindered railroads competitiveness economically. The industry was plagued by a series of bankruptcy, service cuts, and delayed maintenance. Uninformed federal rail regulations also contributed to the decline. Around the year 1970, the federal government began loosening the restrictions on railroads' regulatory requirements. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee the economic aspects of the industry such as mergers and railroad rates. The Federal Railroad Administration was also created, which sets rules for safety in rail and is one of 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation that oversees freight and passenger transportation. Since then, a significant deal of investment has been made in the country's railroad infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor, for example has been renovated to accommodate more efficient, faster and modern high speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. The effort has also been made to improve the efficiency of freight rail systems. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its partnership with all transportation agencies to ensure safe and reliable railroads. FRA's mission is to ensure that the nation's transport system runs as efficiently as is possible.