It Is The History Of Federal Railroad

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 inspect the railroad track, train control and signal systems, as well as operating practices. They also investigate complaints.

Definition

A federal railroad is a rail carrier in the United States that is controlled by the government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, creates and enforces regulations for railways, administers railroad funds, and conducts research to improve rail transportation. The FRA is one of 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation that are concerned with intermodal transportation, and its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator.

The agency is responsible for all passenger and freight transport that uses the rail network of the United States. The agency also coordinates the federal funding for rail transportation, and helps with the rehabilitation of the Northeast Corridor passenger service. The agency also regulates ownership and operation of intermodal facilities, like tracks, rights of way equipment, real estate and rolling stock. It also manages federal rail transportation programs.

FRA's duties also include establishing, through regulation and after an opportunity for comment the procedure through which anyone can notify the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security problems or deficiencies. Additionally, the FRA creates policies and conducts inspections in order to evaluate the compliance of its rail safety laws in six technical disciplines that include track signals and train control, motive power and equipment, operating practices, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings.

The agency is in charge of making sure that the railroad transportation system is operating in a secure, efficient, and environmentally friendly way. The agency also demands that railroads maintain a safe work environment and provide adequate training for their employees. Furthermore, the agency sets and enforces railroad rates to ensure that the public is receiving fair prices for their transportation services.

The Federal Railroad Administration also enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad employees. The agency also safeguards whistleblowers from retaliation by railroad companies. The agency also has an avenue for railroad employees to file complaints about the company's conduct.

The agency's main mission is to ensure safe, reliable and effective movement of goods and people to ensure a secure America now and in future. The FRA accomplishes this through overseeing the safety of railroads, regulating programs for assistance to railroads conducting research to help the improvement of safety for railroads and national rail transportation policies as well as coordinating and assisting with rail networking development, and helping the private sector manage railroads. In the past, railroads were dominant in the market with no competition. This meant that the industry often abused its position in the marketplace. Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission, as well as other regulatory agencies, to curb the monopolies' exploitation of railroads.

Purpose

Federal railroads are federal agencies that set rules, regulate rail funds and conduct research to improve rail transportation in the United States. It is responsible for the railway infrastructure of the United States and supervises passenger and freight railroads. It is one of 10 agencies in the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also tasked with maintaining and expanding the current rail systems, as well as ensuring the ability of the rail industry to meet increasing demand for freight and travel as well as providing leadership in national and regional system planning.

Safety is the main responsibility in rail transportation. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for this, and has several divisions responsible for overseeing the country's freight and passenger railway operations. The largest of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, with approximately 350 safety inspectors and is responsible for conducting inspections that determine the compliance with regulations in six technical disciplines including track signals, train control, motive power and equipment, operating procedures as well as hazmat and highway rail grade crossings.

FRA has other departments which include the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This department oversees programs aimed to improve passenger and freight rail transportation, like the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for the grants given to railways, and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nation's rail requirements.

The FRA also has a duty to enforce federal laws that pertain to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads from discriminate against employees and ensuring that railway workers injured are taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. It also prohibits railroads to delay or refuse medical treatment for injured railway workers.

The FRA is the primary regulator for the passenger and freight rail industry, but other organizations oversee the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for instance is responsible for setting rates and governing the financial aspects of the industry. It is also the regulator for railroad mergers, line-sales, construction and abandonment. Other responsibilities include establishing a process through regulations, after a public input opportunity that allows anyone to complain about alleged safety violations to the agency.

Functions

Railroads transport goods and people to and from cities in developed countries as and remote villages in less-developed countries. They transport raw materials from processing and manufacturing facilities, and then finished products from these facilities to stores or warehouses. Railroads are an essential mode of transportation for many essential products, including coal, oil and grains. In  fela lawsuit settlements , freight railroads transported more than a quarter of the freight volume in the United America [PDF].

The federal railroad is run like any other business. It has departments for marketing and sale, operations and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales works with potential and existing customers as well as clients to determine what services they require and what they will cost. The operations department then creates the rail services that meet those requirements at the lowest possible cost to generate revenue for the railroad. The executive department is responsible for the entire operation, making sure every department is running smoothly.

The government supports the railways by a variety of methods such as grants and subsidised rates for government-owned traffic. Congress also provides money to support and build new tracks and stations. These subsidies are often in addition to the revenue the railroads receive from tickets and freight contracts.

Amtrak is owned by the United States government. It is a quasi public for-profit corporation, with the United States Government as a major stockholder.

The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) main function is to develop and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical condition of trains and the safety and health of railroad employees. FRA also collects data about rail security to determine trends, areas that need improvement or regulatory attention and to track trends.

FRA also has other projects that improve the safety and economy of railway transportation in the United States. For instance, the agency, aims to reduce the obstacles that can hinder railroads in adopting positive train control (PTC). PTC is a security technology that utilizes sensors and computers to stop a train in the event that it is too close to another vehicle or object.

History

The nation's first railroads were constructed in the 1820s and 1830s, mostly in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The railroads significantly accelerated the industrialization process in those areas, and also brought more food products to the market. This allowed the country to become more self-sufficient and less dependent upon foreign imports, which helped to foster a strong economic base.

In the late nineteenth century the railroad industry was experiencing a "Golden Age," during which many new trains that were more efficient were built and passenger travel on train became increasingly popular. This was largely because of the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. For example, the government gave homesteaders land grants to encourage them to settle in the West and the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads joined forces to construct the first transcontinental railroad, which enabled travel from New York to San Francisco in just six days.

However in the first half of the 20th century, demand for passenger railroad services declined and other transportation options like airplanes and cars gained popularity, while the stifling of regulations hindered railroads' ability to compete economically. The industry was plagued by a string of bankruptcy service cuts, bankruptcy, and delayed maintenance. Uninformed federal rail regulations also contributed to the decline.

Around the year 1970 the federal government began to loosen the regulatory burdens on railroads. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee the economic aspects of the industry such as mergers and rates for railroads. The Federal Railroad Administration was also established to set rules for safety in rail and is one of 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation that oversees freight and passenger transportation.

Since then, the infrastructure of the railroads of the United States has seen a significant amount of investment. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt for instance, in order to accommodate faster and more modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There are also efforts to create more efficient systems for freight rail. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its relationship with all transportation agencies to ensure reliable and safe railroads. It is the agency's job to ensure that the transportation system of the United States operates as efficiently as possible.