Five Killer Quora Answers On Federal Railroad > 자유게시판

The Federal Railroad Administration and Technology

The Federal Railroad Administration creates and enforces rail safety regulations It also provides rail funding and studies strategies for improving rail safety.

FRA field inspectors employ discretion to decide which cases merit the precise and time-consuming civil penalty process. This discretion helps ensure that the violations most deserving of punishment are penalized.

Allies and members of SMART-TD made history in 2024 when they began pushing the FRA to keep two people in the cabs of locomotives of freight trains. The fight continues.

Safety

The Federal Railroad Administration has a range of safety measures in place to ensure the safety and health of employees as well as the general public. It is responsible for creating and enforcing safety regulations for rail. It also manages the funding for rail and conducts research on rail improvement strategies and technological developments. It also creates the implementation and maintenance of a plan for maintaining the current rail infrastructure and services. It also develops and improves the national rail network. The department demands that all rail companies adhere to strict guidelines, empower their employees and provide them with tools to be safe and successful. This includes taking part in an anonymous close-call reporting system, setting up labor-management occupational safety and health committees, with full-union participation and antiretaliation provisions and giving employees the necessary personal protective equipment.

Inspectors of the FRA are at the leading edge of enforcing rail safety laws and regulations. They conduct regular inspections of equipment and conduct a multitude of investigations of complaints of noncompliance. Anyone who is in violation of the rail safety laws could be penalized civilly. Safety inspectors at the agency have a wide discretion to determine if a violation falls under the definition provided by law of an offense that is punishable with civil penalties. Additionally the Office of Chief Counsel's safety division examines all reports submitted from regional offices to determine their legality prior to assessing penalties. This discretion is exercised at the field and regional levels to ensure that civil penalties are only used in situations that warrant them.

A rail worker must be aware of the rules and regulations that govern his actions, and not knowingly violate those standards to commit a criminal offense that is punishable by a civil penalty. However the agency does not take any person who is acting under a direction by a supervisor as having committed an intentional violation. The agency defines the "general railroad system of transportation" as the entire system that passengers and goods travel within metropolitan areas, or between them. The trackage of a plant railroad within the steel mill 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 for establishing regulations for trains, such as those relating to safety and the movement of hazardous substances. The agency also oversees rail financing including loans and grants for infrastructure and service improvements. The agency works with other DOT agencies and industry to develop strategies to improve the nation's railroad system. This work includes maintaining current rail services and infrastructure, in addition to addressing the need for additional capacity strategically expanding the network, and coordinating regional and national systems planning and development.

Although the majority of the agency's work focuses on freight transportation, it also handles passenger transportation. The agency is aiming to provide more options for passenger travel and connect people to the places they would like to go. The agency is focused on enhancing the passenger experience, increasing the safety of the current fleet, and making sure that the rail network is operating efficiently.

Railroads are required to abide with a variety of federal regulations, which include those that deal with the size and composition of crews on trains. This is an issue of contention in recent years, with a few states passing legislation to require two-person crews on trains. This final rule codifies the minimum requirements for crew size at an international level, and ensures that all railroads are subject to the same safety standards.

This rule also requires each railroad that operates a single-person train crew to notify FRA of the operation and submit a risk assessment. This will allow FRA to identify the specifics of each operation and compare them with the normal two-person crew operation. In addition this rule alters the review standard for an approval petition that is based on determining whether the operation is "consistent with railroad safety" to determining if approving the operation is secure or as safe as an operation with two crew members.

During the public comment period for this rule, many people supported a two-person crew requirement. In a letter to the editor, 29 people expressed their concern that a single crew member is not in a position to respond as quickly to train malfunctions or incidents at grade crossings, or assist emergency response personnel at a highway-rail level crossing. The commenters pointed out that human factors account for more than half all railroad accidents, and they think that a bigger crew could help ensure the safety of both the train and the cargo it transports.

Technology

Freight and passenger railroads employ various technologies to enhance efficiency, increase security, improve safety and much more. Rail industry jargon comprises many specific terms and acronyms. Some of the most notable include machine vision systems (also known as drones), instrumented rail-inspection systems, driverless train, rolling data centers, and unmanned aerial vehicle (also called drones).

Technology isn't just replacing some jobs -- it's empowering people to perform their jobs more effectively and safely. Railroads that transport passengers are using smartphones apps and contactless fare payment cards to increase ridership and make the system more efficient. Other innovations, such as autonomous rail vehicles, are moving closer to becoming a reality.

The Federal Railroad Administration, as part of its ongoing efforts to improve safe, reliable, and affordable transportation in America, is focused on modernizing the railway infrastructure. This multi-billion-dollar effort will see tunnels, bridges tracks, power systems and tracks updated and stations rebuilt or replace. The FRA's rail improvements program will be substantially expanded by the recently passed bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The agency's Office of Research, Development and Technology is a key component of this effort. Recent National Academies review of the office found it excelled at engaging, maintaining communication and using inputs from a variety of stakeholders. But it must concentrate on how its research contributes to the department's primary objective of ensuring the safe movement of goods and people by rail.

The agency could increase its efficiency by identifying and implementing automated train systems and technologies. The Association of American Railroads, the primary freight rail association that focuses on research, policy and standard setting, has established a Technical Advisory Group on Autonomous Train Operations to help develop industry standards for the implementation of the technology.

The FRA is interested in the development of a taxonomy to describe automated rail vehicles, a system that defines clearly and consistently the different levels of automation. This would apply to rail transit as well as vehicles on the road. The agency will also want to know the level of safety risk that the industry believes is associated when implementing a fully automated system and whether or not the industry is contemplating additional security measures to reduce the risk.

Innovation

Railroads are using technology to boost worker safety, make business processes more efficient, and ensure that the freight that they transport arrives at its destination safely. Examples of this innovation vary from the use sensors and cameras to keep track of freight, and to new railcar designs that help keep hazardous cargo secure during transit. Certain of these technologies offer railroads the ability to send emergency response personnel to areas of accidents so that they can quickly mitigate the damage and minimize risk to people and property.

One of the most well-known innovations in rail is Positive Train Control (PTC) that will stop train-to-train collisions, situations where trains are on tracks they shouldn't be, as well as other accidents that are caused by human error. The system is a three-part system comprised of locomotives onboard that track the train and wayside networks that communicate with the locomotive and a huge backend server that gathers and analyzes data.

Trains for passengers also adopt technology to enhance safety and security. For instance, Amtrak is experimenting with the use of drones to assist passenger security staff in locating passengers and other items aboard trains in case of an emergency. Amtrak is also investigating other possibilities to utilize drones, such as using drones to conduct inspections of bridges as well as other infrastructure, for example, replacing the lights on railway towers, which could be hazardous for workers to climb.

Smart track technology is a different technology that is used in passenger railroads. It is able to detect objects or people on tracks and alert drivers if it is unsafe to continue. These types of technologies can be particularly useful in detecting crossings that are not authorized and other problems in the off-hours, when traffic volumes are lowest and there are fewer people to witness an accident.

Another important technological advancement in the rail industry is telematics which allows railroads, shippers and other stakeholders to monitor a traincar's status and condition by real-time tracking. Such capabilities give railcar operators and crews greater accountability and visibility and can help them improve efficiency, prevent unnecessary maintenance and avoid delays in the delivery of freight to customers.