Federal Railroad Administration

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Federal Railroad Administration
USDOT - Federal Railroad Administration - Logo.svg
Agency overview
FormedApril 1, 1967;57 years ago (1967-04-01)
Jurisdiction United States Government
Headquarters Washington, DC
Employees850
Annual budget$1.561 billion (2008) [1]
Agency executive
Parent agency U.S. Department of Transportation
Website railroads.dot.gov OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. [3] The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail safety regulations, administer railroad assistance programs, conduct research and development in support of improved railroad safety and national rail transportation policy, provide for the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service, and consolidate government support of rail transportation activities. [4]

Contents

The FRA is one of ten agencies within DOT concerned with intermodal transportation. It operates through seven divisions under the offices of the Administrator and Deputy Administrator. These divisions are Financial Management and Administration, Chief Counsel, Civil Rights, Public Affairs, Public Engagement, Railroad Policy and Development, and Safety. It has a staff of about 850. [5]

Function

Amtrak California Zephyr Engines 1 and 56 Eastbound at Grand Junction - img1.jpg
ATSF Downhhill Caliente Aug 90xRP (7701632638).jpg
The FRA oversees both passenger (top) and freight (bottom) rail operations in the United States.
An FRA hazardous materials inspector examines outlet valves at the bottom of a tank car to ensure that they are properly tightened Tank car valve inspection.jpg
An FRA hazardous materials inspector examines outlet valves at the bottom of a tank car to ensure that they are properly tightened

All passenger and freight rail travel in the United States on the national interconnected rail infrastructure is subject to regulation by the FRA. FRA regulates public and intercity rail services, but does not regulate "closed" railways that operate exclusively on private property, such as a rail system between buildings at a steel mill, nor does it regulate subways, light rail, or elevated intra-city passenger rail systems that do not connect to any public rail networks. [7] Most notably, the FRA enforces safety regulations, such as speed limits and requirements for safety features such as positive train control (PTC). [8] Non-legislative recommendations for FRA policy come from the Rail Safety Advisory Committee, established in 1996, [9] though much of FRA policy is created via congressional legislation; for example, the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was an act of Congress, which the FRA enforced through a series of regulations published two years later. [10] These regulations include enforcement of PTC requirements and enforcement of more stringent conductor certification requirements. [11] [12]

Passenger rail initiatives

The FRA announced the availability of over $153 million in funding through the Restoration and Enhancement (R&E) Grant Program in 2024. This funding, provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is intended to support operating costs for new, restored, or enhanced intercity passenger rail services. The program aims to improve the quality and accessibility of passenger rail, encouraging a shift towards more sustainable transportation options. [13]

FRA Inspection Train in St. Johnsville, New York Federal Railroad Administration Inspection Train.jpg
FRA Inspection Train in St. Johnsville, New York

21st century safety initiatives

In 2011, the FRA began the process of updating its electronic device policy for active train operators. [14]

In June 2015, the FRA announced a railway safety initiative with Google that would include the FRA's GIS data in its mapping services. The data pinpoint the location of over 250,000 rail crossings in the United States. The FRA believes that providing the location of rail crossings on maps will enhance crossing safety for people who are using navigation systems while driving. [15] [16] The agency also created a web portal for the public to report blocked crossings in order to collect data on the implication for safety and economy of stopped trains blocking crossings. [17] [18]

Citing safety concerns, in 2016 the FRA proposed a rule to mandate train crew sizes [19] but the agency withdrew the rule in 2019 stating "that no regulation of train crew staffing is necessary or appropriate for railroad operations to be conducted safely at this time." [20] This was in part due to the improving safety record for rail and also the implementation of PTC across nearly 60,000 route miles of track. [21] [22]

Following three recent derailments of long trains, the FRA in July 2023 started requiring Class 1 railroads to provide monthly data tracking train length and tonnage. [23] The specific concern is of trains with 1) more than 200 cars, 2) length of 12,250 feet or more, or 3) weight of more than 17,000 tons.

Freight safety

The safety of rail freight transport has become an area of focus at the FRA, particularly as the industry uses longer trains. Over the past decade, the FRA reported significant improvements in rail safety because of the railroad industry's investments in infrastructure, technology, and training. For example, the overall train accident rate has decreased by 27% since 2000, and the rate of hazardous materials accidents has reached its lowest point ever, down 75% per carload since 2000. [24] [25]

However, the increasing length of freight trains, some now stretching nearly three miles, has presented safety challenges. Issues such as the effectiveness of braking systems and the proper arrangement of train cars, known as "train makeup," are particularly critical in ensuring safe operations, especially under extreme conditions like steep grades or sharp curves. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recognized that the FRA is investigating the safety implications of longer trains, conducting system-wide safety audits, and issuing advisories to address potential risks. [26]

The FRA's ongoing efforts include collaborations with freight railroads to enhance safety through advanced technologies and stringent compliance with safety regulations. As freight rail operations continue to grow in complexity, both the FRA and railroad companies have worked on addressing new safety issues. [26] [24]

Notable investigations

The FRA played a significant role in investigating the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which occurred on February 3, 2023. The derailment involved a train carrying hazardous materials, and the FRA's investigation revealed that the primary cause was a failed journal bearing on one of the train's cars. The FRA also identified contributing factors, including inadequate communication protocols related to hotbox detectors and the use of general-purpose tank cars for transporting flammable liquids, which exacerbated the severity of the incident. [27] [28] [29]

In response to the derailment, the FRA initiated several enforcement cases and called for more stringent safety regulations, particularly concerning the placement and operation of wayside detectors designed to identify overheating bearings. The investigation highlighted the need for enhanced safety measures in the freight rail industry, leading the FRA to advocate for legislative changes and more rigorous oversight of rail operations. [27] [30]

On July 23, 2024, FRA Administrator Amit Bose testified before a congressional hearing regarding the derailment. In his testimony, Bose emphasized the FRA's findings that the accident was caused by a failed roller bearing, compounded by inadequate communication and safety procedures within Norfolk Southern. He also called for stronger legislative action to enhance rail safety and criticized the railroad industry's resistance to adopting new safety measures, urging Congress to act swiftly to address these ongoing issues. [31]

List of administrators

ImageNameYear beganYear endAppointed by
A. Scheffer Lang19671969 Lyndon B. Johnson
Reginald Whitman19691970 Richard Nixon
John W. Ingram 19711974Richard Nixon
Asaph H. Hall19741977Richard Nixon
John M. Sullivan19771981 Jimmy Carter
Robert W. Blanchette19811983 Ronald Reagan
John H. Riley 19831989Ronald Reagan
Gil Carmichael 19891993 George H. W. Bush
Jolene M. Molitoris.gif Jolene Molitoris19932000 Bill Clinton
Allan Rutter.jpg Allan Rutter20012004 George W. Bush
Betty Monro.jpg Betty Monro (acting)20042005George W. Bush
Robert D. Jamison (acting)20052005George W. Bush
Jhboardman.jpg Joseph H. Boardman 20052008George W. Bush
Clifford C. Eby.jpg Clifford C. Eby (acting)20082009George W. Bush
Joeszabo.jpg Joe Szabo 20092015 Barack Obama
Sarah Feinberg official photo.jpg Sarah Feinberg 20152017Barack Obama
Patrick T. Warren.jpg Patrick T. Warren (acting)20172017 Donald Trump
Heath Hall.png Heath Hall (acting)20172018Donald Trump
Juan D. Reyes III.jpg Juan Reyes (acting)20182018Donald Trump
Ronald Batory official photo.jpg Ronald Batory 20182021Donald Trump
Amit-bose.png Amit Bose (acting) [32] 20212022 Joe Biden
Amit Bose, FRA Administrator.jpg Amit Bose 2022PresentJoe Biden

[33] [34] [35] [36]

Northeast Corridor Future

The FRA's Northeast Corridor (NEC) Future is a long-term plan aimed at improving the nation's Northeast Corridor. [37] The NEC Future plan consists of four components (also known as the Selective Alternative) that are: Improve rail service, Modernize NEC infrastructure, Expand rail capacity, and Study New Haven-to-Providence capacity. These four components all aim to improve the reliability and performance of the NEC system, whether it be through intercity or regional means. [38] The Selective Alternative looks to do four major things: Improve rail service by increasing frequency of trains, decreasing travel time, and making better passenger convenience; Modernize NEC infrastructure by having corridor-wide repair and replacing and fixing parts to bring the entire system to increased reliability; Expand rail capacity by adding new infrastructure between cities and increasing train speeds and capacity; and Study New Haven to Providence capacity. [39]

The NEC Future ROD (Record of Decision) was issued in July 2017, which marked the completion of the Tier 1 environmental review process. The ROD lays out everything involved with the project, including the plan itself and feedback from individuals, organizations, and stakeholders. [37] There is no listed completion date for the NEC Future and Selective Alternative.

National Rail Plan

Background

The need for an NRP was brought up in the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. However, before the official plan could be drafted, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) required a Preliminary National Rail Plan (PNRP) to be made first, which was submitted to Congress on October 15, 2009. On December 16, 2009, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 was enacted into law and established the delivery date for the NRP. The delivery date for the NRP was September 15, 2010. [40]

The goal

With the nation's infrastructure growing, the transportation used in the nation also needs to grow. With that in mind, the NRP's main goal is to increase the size of the nation's railway capacity to include 70 million more people and 2.8 billion tons more of freight within the next 25 years, and 100 million more people and 4 billion tons more of freight within the next 40 years. The NRP also looks to continue improving the rail systems safety. [41]

High-speed intercity travel

Another one of the NRP's big goals is the introduction of a high-speed train made for intercity travel. These trains would be much faster than normal trains, ranging in speed from 125–250 mph (200–400 km/h), and capable of delivering a passenger 500 miles (800 km) in about 2–3 hours. In smaller, regional areas, the trains would not be as quick, only going somewhere between 90–125 mph (145–201 km/h). There are no set costs for this system, however. The FRA argues that the benefits a high-speed rail system would bring outweigh the costs for the system, claiming that the high-speed rail system would reduce car traffic and eliminate the need for short-haul flights. It would also reduce congestion in America's more populated regions and boost manufacturing activity. [41]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Train</span> Series of powered rail vehicles

A train is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives, though some are self-propelled, such as multiple units or railcars. Passengers and cargo are carried in railroad cars, also known as wagons or carriages. Trains are designed to a certain gauge, or distance between rails. Most trains operate on steel tracks with steel wheels, the low friction of which makes them more efficient than other forms of transport. Many countries use rail transport.

The vast majority of passenger travel in the United States occurs by automobile for shorter distances and airplane or railroad for longer distances. Most cargo in the U.S. is transported by, in descending order, railroad, truck, pipeline, or boat; air shipping is typically used only for perishables and premium express shipments. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amtrak</span> American intercity passenger rail operator

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak, is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. Amtrak is a portmanteau of the words America and track.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Pacific Railroad</span> Class I freight railroad in the United States

The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over 32,200 miles (51,800 km) routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, with which it shares a duopoly on transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western, Midwestern and West South Central United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Corridor</span> Electrified railroad line in the Northeastern U.S.

The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The NEC is roughly paralleled by Interstate 95 for most of its length. Carrying more than 2,200 trains a day, it is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and service frequency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norfolk Southern Railway</span> American railway company

The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The company operates 19,420 route miles (31,250 km) in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia, and has rights in Canada over the Albany to Montreal route of the Canadian Pacific Kansas City. Norfolk Southern Railway is the leading subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Corporation.

<i>Sunset Limited</i> Amtrak service between Los Angeles and New Orleans

The Sunset Limited is a long-distance passenger train run by Amtrak, operating on a 1,995-mile (3,211 km) route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Major stops include Houston, San Antonio and El Paso in Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Opening in 1894 through the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Sunset Limited is the oldest continuously operating named train in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor</span> Proposed passenger rail project in the United States

The Southeast Corridor (SEC) is a proposed passenger rail transportation project in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States to extend high-speed passenger rail services from the current southern terminus of the Northeast Corridor in Washington, D.C. Routes would extend south via Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, with a spur to Norfolk in Virginia's Hampton Roads region; the mainline would continue south to Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Since the corridor was first established in 1992, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has extended it further to Atlanta and Macon, Georgia; Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; and Birmingham, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail transportation in the United States</span>

Rail transportation in the United States consists primarily of freight shipments along a well integrated network of standard gauge private freight railroads that also extend into Canada and Mexico. The United States has the largest rail transport network of any country in the world, about 160,000 miles (260,000 km).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-speed rail in the United States</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartford Line</span> CTrail commuter rail service in the US

The Hartford Line is a commuter rail service between New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, using the Amtrak-owned New Haven–Springfield Line. The project is a joint venture between the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts, with support from the federal government as well. CT Rail-branded trains provide service along the corridor, and riders can use Hartford Line tickets to travel on board most Amtrak trains along the corridor at the same prices. The service launched on June 16, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Positive train control</span> Type of train protection system

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelham Bay Bridge</span> Bridge in the Bronx, New York

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail speed limits in the United States</span> Overview of rail speed limits in the United States of America

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Line</span> 110-mph Amtrak and Michigan state-owned rail corridor

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008</span>

The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is a United States federal law, enacted by Congress to improve railroad safety. Among its provisions, the most notable was the mandate requiring positive train control (PTC) technology to be installed on most of the US railroad network by 2015. This was spurred by the 2008 Chatsworth train collision the month prior to passage of the act. After two delays, the technology was operational on all required railroads by the end of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Higher-speed rail</span> Type of railway with speeds approaching but less than that of true high speed rail

Higher-speed rail (HrSR) is the jargon used to describe inter-city passenger rail services that have top speeds of more than conventional rail but are not high enough to be called high-speed rail services. The term is also used by planners to identify the incremental rail improvements to increase train speeds and reduce travel time as alternatives to larger efforts to create or expand the high-speed rail networks.

Pedestrian railroad safety is concerned with the protection of life through regulation, management and technology development of all forms of rail transportation. In the United States there are some 180,000 miles of track. Pedestrian railroad accidents are the leading cause of death on railways. More than 7,200 pedestrians have been killed by trains in the United States since 1997.

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  7. In this article http://www.alexblock.net/blog/2015/10/06/wmata-the-ntsb-and-the-fra-or-what-do-you-mean-the-metro-doesnt-count-as-a-railroad/ Archived May 8, 2018, at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved May 7, 2018), a subway or metro system that does not use infrastructure accessible from other networks, such as Washington DC's Metrorail system, the Chicago "L", or the New York City Subway, is not a "railroad" and FRA lacks jurisdiction over its operations.
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PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of Transportation .
PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Archives and Records Administration .