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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 goal is to facilitate the safe and efficient transportation of people and goods. FRA field inspectors inspect the railroad track signals, train control and track 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 federal government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, formulates and enforces railway regulations, administers railroad funds, and conducts research to improve rail transportation. 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 network of the United States. The agency also consolidates government funding for rail transportation and supports the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor passenger service. Moreover, the agency regulates the operation and ownership of all intermodal facilities such as tracks, right-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 following an opportunity for comments the procedure through which anyone can report to the Secretary Homeland Security any railroad security issues or issues. Additionally, the FRA sets up 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 machinery, operating practices, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings. The agency is charged with the responsibility to make sure the rail transportation system is secure, economical and sustainable. The agency also requires railroads to provide a safe working environment and provide adequate training to their employees. The agency also sets and enforces railroad prices to ensure that the public is billed fair prices for transportation services. Additionally to that, the Federal Railroad Administration enacts and enforces rules to prevent discrimination against railroad workers, and also protects whistleblowers from being retaliated against by railroad companies. The agency also establishes procedures for railroad employees can make complaints against the company's actions. The primary goal of the FRA is to ensure the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods to ensure a secure America today and into the future. The FRA accomplishes this by regulating rail safety, managing programs to assist railroads conducting research in support of improving safety in the railroad industry and national transportation policy, coordinating rail networking development and helping the private industry manage railroads. In the past, railroads were large monopolies, with no competition. In the end, the industry frequently abused its position in the market. Hence, Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to prevent the abuses of railroad monopolies. Purpose Federal railroads are government institutions that make rules, regulate funds for rail and conduct research to improve the rail system in the United America. It is responsible for both freight and passenger railroads, and also manages the nation's railway infrastructure. It is one of the ten agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also responsible for maintaining and expanding current railroad infrastructure. The main responsibility of the federal government in the rail transportation industry is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has several divisions which oversee the country's freight and passenger rail operations. The largest of these is the Office of Railroad Safety, which has around 350 safety inspectors and is responsible for conducting inspections to determine compliance with the regulations in six technical disciplines: track, signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating practices as well as hazmat and highway rail grade crossings. FRA has several departments, such as the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. This oversees the programs that are meant to improve freight and passenger rail transportation, including the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for granting grants given to railways and works with other agencies to determine the nation's rail requirements. Another essential duty of the FRA is the enforcement of federal laws regarding railroads and their employees. This includes stopping railroads from discriminating against workers and ensuring that injured railway workers receive transportation to the nearest hospital for initial aid treatment. Additionally, railroads are prohibited from refusing or delaying medical care to injured railway workers. The FRA is the primary regulator of the rail passenger and freight industry, but other organizations manage the economic aspects of rail transportation. The Surface Transportation Board, for instance is responsible for setting rates and governing the economics of the industry. It has regulatory authority over railroad mergers, line sales construction and abandonment. Other responsibilities include the establishment of a process through regulations, following an opportunity for public input, by which anyone may complain about alleged safety violations to the agency. Functions Rails transport goods and people from and to cities in the developed world as and villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials to manufacturing and processing factories, and then the final products from those facilities to warehouses and stores. Railroads are an essential mode of transportation for many essential commodities, such as oil, coal and grains. In railroad injury fela lawyer , freight railroads transported more than a quarter of the freight volume in the United States [PDF(PDF). The federal railroad is run just like other businesses. It has departments for marketing, sale, operations and an executive department. The department for marketing and sales consults with customers and potential clients to determine what services they require and what they will cost. The operations department then produces rail services that meet these requirements at the lowest cost possible to generate revenue for railroads. The executive department supervises the entire operation and makes sure that each department is running efficiently. The government supports the railways in various ways including grants, to subsidised rates for shipping government traffic. Congress also provides money to support and build new stations and tracks. These subsidies are often in addition to the revenues the railroads receive from ticket sales and freight contracts. Amtrak is owned by the United States government. It is a quasi public for-profit corporation, which has the United States Government as a major stockholder. A major role of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is establishing 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 and analyzes data on rail safety in order to identify patterns and areas that might require improvement or more regulation. In addition to these core duties, FRA works on various other projects related to improving the economy and security of railway transportation in the United States. The agency, for example, aims to reduce the obstacles that can hinder railroads in adopting positive train control (PTC). PTC is a safety system that makes use of sensors and on-board computers to stop the train automatically when it gets too close to another vehicle or object. History In the 1820s-1830s the first railroads in the United States were built, mostly in New England and Mid-Atlantic. The railroads accelerated industrialization and brought more food to the market in these regions. This helped the country become more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports. In the late 19th century, the railroad industry enjoyed the benefits of a “Golden Age” during which new, more efficient raillines were constructed and passenger travel became popular. This was largely because of the government's efforts to expand the railroad system. For instance the government offered homesteaders grants of land 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 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 hampered railroads competitiveness economically. The industry was plagued by a string of bankruptcy, service cuts, and delayed maintenance. In addition, misguided railroad regulations from the federal government contributed to the demise of the industry. Around 1970, the federal government began to loosen the regulatory burdens on railroads. Surface Transportation Board was created to oversee economic issues such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration, which regulates freight and passenger transport and sets safety standards for rail was also established. Since then, a significant amount of investment has been made in the country's railway infrastructure. The Northeast Corridor has been rebuilt, for instance, to accommodate more efficient and modern high-speed ground transportation (HSGT). There have also been efforts to develop more efficient freight rail. FRA hopes to continue working with all transportation agencies to ensure reliable and safe rails in the coming years. It is the job of FRA to help make sure that the nation's transportation system operates as efficiently as it can.