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The Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration is among the 10 agencies of the DOT which are responsible for intermodal transportation. Its mission is enabling the safe and efficient transportation of people and goods. FRA field inspectors inspect the railroad track signals, train control and track systems as well operating practices. They also investigate complaints. Definition Federal railroads are rail carriers in the United States controlled by the federal government. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, develops and enforces regulations governing railways as well as manages funds from railroads and conducts research to improve the efficiency of rail transportation. The FRA is one of the 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation that is concerned with intermodal transportation, and its chief executive officers are the Administrator and Deputy Administrator. The agency is responsible for all freight and passenger transport that utilizes the nation's railway network. In addition, the agency also supports the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates support from the federal government for rail transportation. The agency also regulates the ownership and operation of intermodal facilities, including tracks, right of way, equipment, real estate and rolling stock. It also oversees federal rail transportation programs. The FRA's duties include establishing, through regulation, after opportunity for notice and comment, a process by anyone can report to the Secretary of Homeland Security concerning railroad security problems or inconsistencies. Additionally, the FRA establishes policies and conducts inspections in order to evaluate the compliance of its rail safety regulations in six technical disciplines tracks signal and train control, motive power and machinery operating practices, hazmat and highway-rail grade crossings. The agency is in charge of ensuring that the railway transportation system operates in a safe, economic and sustainable manner. As a result, the agency requires railroads to maintain the safety of their workers and provide appropriate training for their employees. Furthermore, the agency sets and regulates railroad rates to ensure that the public receives fair prices for their transportation services. The Federal Railroad Administration also enacts and enforces rules to stop discrimination against railroad employees. It also protects whistleblowers from retaliation by railroad companies. The agency also sets up an avenue for railroad employees to make complaints about the company's conduct. The primary goal of the agency is to ensure the secure, reliable and efficient transportation of people and goods to ensure a secure America both now and in the future. The FRA accomplishes this through overseeing the regulation of rail safety, managing railroad assistance programmes, conducting research to support better safety of railroads and national transportation policies as well as coordinating the development of rail networks and assisting private companies manage railroads. In the past, railroads were large monopolies that had no competition. In the end, the industry frequently abused its position in the marketplace. Hence, Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission and other regulatory agencies to limit the abuses of railroad monopolies. Purpose The federal railroad is a federal agency that sets rules, oversees funds for rail and studies ways to improve the nation's rail transportation system. It is responsible for the railroad infrastructure of the United States and supervises freight and passenger railroads. It is one of ten agencies within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It is also charged with maintaining and expanding the current railway systems, ensuring capability of the railroad industry to meet growing travel and freight demands and providing leadership in national and regional system planning. The government's primary responsibility in the rail transportation industry is safety. The Federal Railroad Administration is responsible for this. It has a number of divisions that supervise the country's passenger and freight railway operations. The Office of Railroad Safety is the largest, with around 350 inspectors. It is responsible for conducting safety inspections in six different technical disciplines, including track signalling, and train control equipment and motives, operating procedures, hazmat and highway-rail grade crosses. FRA has several departments, including the Office of Railroad Policy and Development. It is responsible for the programs that are meant to improve freight and passenger rail transportation, such as the Northeast Corridor Future. This department is responsible for the grants for railways and collaborates with other agencies in order to plan the nation's rail requirements. Another important function of the FRA is the enforcement of federal laws pertaining to railroads and their employees. This includes preventing railroads from discriminating against employees and ensuring that injured railway workers receive transportation to the nearest hospital for first aid treatment. The law also prohibits railroads from deny or delay medical treatment for injured railway employees. The FRA is the primary regulator of the passenger and freight railway industries, but there are other organizations that manage the economic aspects of rail transport. Surface Transportation Board is responsible for determining rates and governing economics in the sector. It is the regulatory authority for railroad mergers, line-sales, construction, and abandonment. After the public consultation period the agency is responsible for establishing rules that will allow anyone to report any suspected rail safety violations. Functions Railroads transport people and goods to and from cities in developed countries as and remote villages in countries that are less developed. They transport raw materials from manufacturing and processing facilities, and finished goods from these facilities to stores or warehouses. Railroads are an essential mode of transportation for many vital products, including oil, coal and grains. In 2020, freight rail moved more than a quarter of the nation's total freight volume [PDF]. Federal railroads function as a business just like other businesses, with departments for marketing and sales, operations and an executive department. The department of marketing and sales talks with customers and potential clients to determine what services they require and what they need to cost. The operations department then produces the rail services that satisfy those requirements at the cheapest cost to earn money for the railroad. The executive department oversees the entire operation, ensuring that every department is running smoothly. The government helps the railways through a variety of methods that include grants and subsidized rates on government-owned traffic. Congress also provides funds to help build new stations and tracks. These subsidies are often added to the money that railroads earn through tickets and freight contracts. In the United States, the government has the railway for passengers, Amtrak. It is a quasi public for-profit company, with the United States Government as a major stockholder. The Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) primary task is to formulate and enforce safety regulations for railroads. This includes regulating the mechanical state of trains as well as the health and safety of railroad employees. FRA also collects data on security of rail lines to identify patterns areas that require improvement or attention from regulators and to identify trends. FRA also works on other projects that help improve the economy and safety of railroad transportation in the United States. For instance, FRA seeks to eliminate obstacles that could hinder railroads' implementation of positive train control systems (PTC). PTC is a safety technology that utilizes sensors and computers to stop a train automatically when it is too close to another object or vehicle. History In the 1820s and 1830s, the first railroads in America were built, primarily in New England and Mid-Atlantic. The railroads significantly accelerated the industrialization process in these regions, and also brought more food items to the market. This allowed the country become more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports. In the latter part of the nineteenth century the railroad industry was experiencing a “Golden Age,” during which many new railway lines that were more efficient were constructed and passenger travel via train became increasingly popular. The government's efforts to expand the railroad system were an important reason. The government, for instance, gave homesteaders land grants in order to encourage them to move to the West. fela claims railroad employees and Union Pacific Railroads also worked together to construct the first transcontinental railway, which allowed passengers to travel from New York City to San Francisco within six days. In the first half century, however the demand for passenger rail services decreased, and other modes of transport such as cars and planes became more popular. In the meantime, the stifling of regulation hindered railroads' ability to compete. A series of bankruptcies, service cuts and deferred maintenance was the next step. Uninformed federal rail regulations also contributed to the decline. Around 1970, federal authorities began to ease the regulatory restrictions on railroads. The Surface Transportation Board was established to oversee the economic aspects of the industry, such as railroad rates and mergers. The Federal Railroad Administration was also created, which sets rail safety regulations and is one of the 10 agencies of the U.S. Department of Transportation that supervises passenger and freight transportation. Since then, the railway infrastructure of the United America has seen a great deal of investment. The Northeast Corridor, for example has been renovated to accommodate faster, more modern high speed ground transportation (HSGT) trains. The effort has also been made to develop more efficient freight rail systems. In the future, FRA hopes to continue its partnership with all transportation agencies in order to ensure safe and reliable railroads. It is the job of FRA to help make sure that the nation's transportation system operates as efficiently as possible.