Federal Railroad Administration

Trump’s FRA nominee vows to uphold 2-person train crews

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Federal Railroad Administration affirmed to lawmakers that he would uphold a rule requiring two-person train crews that is being targeted for repeal by the big U.S. railroads.

At his nomination hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday, David Fink, the FRA nominee, assured Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., that he would stand by the regulation, which the FRA finalized in April 2024, aligning himself with Transportation Secretary Sean...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trumps-fra-nominee-vows-to-uphold-2-person-train-crews

Railroads want feds to scrap 2-person train crew rule

The biggest U.S. railroads are asking the Trump administration to repeal a federal rule requiring two-person crews on freight trains.

The trade group representing six Class I railroads in the U.S. and Canada termed the Biden-era rule “an unsubstantiated mandate that conflicts with the Trump administration’s policy goals of regulatory reform, technological advancement, and data-driven rule-making.” 

The filing marks a resumption of the railroads’ campaign for single-person crews they say have been...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/railroads-want-feds-to-scrap-2-person-train-crew-rule

FRA study sees new locomotive tech as gateway to electric freight trains

The agency that oversees the U.S. rail network thinks it has a plan to help freight trains switch from diesel to cleaner and less expensive electric power.

A Federal Railroad Administration study on mainline electrification recommends that the industry develop a prototype dual-mode freight locomotive and battery tender that could test the feasibility of leaving cost-saving gaps between sections of overhead catenary.

North American freight railroads have studied electrification but have always...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fra-study-sees-new-locomotive-tech-as-gateway-to-electric-freight-trains

Judge blocks Trump funding freeze that could hit rail, maritime

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked an order by President Donald Trump seeking to freeze federal funding pending a review by his administration.

The order from U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan in the District of Columbia came shortly before the freeze was scheduled to go into effect at 5 p.m. It is in effect until Monday afternoon.

Supply chain executives were waiting to see how billions of dollars from the U.S. Department of Transportation will be affected by the order pausing...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-maritime-caught-in-trumps-order-freezing-federal-spending

At TRB: Railroads have lots of questions, some skepticism about zero emissions

WASHINGTON — While global transportation transitions to a cleaner future fueled by alternative power sources, North American railroads have fewer good options outside of diesel fuel.

“We love diesel; we like to take showers in diesel,” joked Michael Nicoletti, a partner at Innovative Rail Technologies (IRT), at “Toward Zero Emissions in Rail: Lessons Learned,” a panel discussion held at the Transportation Research Board’s 124th annual meeting here.

Nicoletti’s observation underscored a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/at-trb-railroads-have-lots-of-questions-some-skepticism-about-zero-emissions

Trump names Fink to head Federal Railroad Administration

President-elect Donald Trump said he has selected David Fink to become administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.

In a post today on Truth Social, Trump said Fink is a “fifth-generation railroader” who “will bring his 45-plus years of transportation leadership and success, which will deliver the FRA into a new era of safety and technological innovation.”

David Armstrong Fink is a former president of Pan Am Railways and son of the late David Andrew Fink, a career railroader who worked...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trump-names-fink-to-head-federal-railroad-administration

Railroads ask federal courts to order FRA to take action on waylaid safety waivers

This story originally appeared on Trains.com.

WASHINGTON – BNSF Railway, CSX, and Union Pacific filed lawsuits against the Federal Railroad Administration today for its failure to act on a half dozen safety waiver requests that in some cases would allow railroads to scale back visual inspections in areas where they have deployed new high-tech train and track inspection systems.

The litigation asks federal courts to find FRA’s inaction on waiver requests is “arbitrary and capricious” and in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/railroads-ask-federal-courts-to-order-fra-to-take-action-on-waylaid-safety-waivers

FRA slows Class I railroad implementation of improved track and train inspections

This story originally appeared on Trains.com.

WASHINGTON – In the wake of the disastrous hazardous materials derailment last year in East Palestine, Ohio, the Federal Railroad Administration has repeatedly said it’s doing everything it can to improve rail safety.

Yet under Administrator Amit Bose the FRA has stymied Class I railroad efforts to combine automated track and equipment inspections with traditional visual inspections in ways that weed out the highest number of defects that can cause...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fra-slows-class-i-railroad-implementation-of-improved-track-and-train-inspections

Federal Railroad Administration awards $2.4B in grants to 122 projects

WASHINGTON — A total of 122 projects in 41 states and the District of Columbia have been named recipients in the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program.

The selected projects, announced Tuesday, will receive more than $2.4 billion in funding.

“Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re funding rail infrastructure projects that create jobs and expand workforce development, reduce costs for consumers, and directly...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/federal-railroad-administration-awards-2-4b-in-grants-to-122-projects

Feds mandate 2-person minimum for most train crews

WASHINGTON — Large freight railroads will have to undergo a rigorous approval process if they want to streamline operations down to one-person train crews.

The new requirement is part of the Federal Railroad Administration’s final rule announced on Tuesday mandating a two-person crew minimum on trains operated by Class 1 railroads unless a railroad can obtain approval for a one-person crew from FRA.

Such an approval will require railroads to demonstrate to FRA, through a petition and public...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/feds-mandate-2-person-minimum-for-most-train-crews

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