The FRA implements railroad safety laws by developing regulations and applying them to the railroads. FRA safety personnel in eight regions across the U.S. monitor America's vast railroad network. FRA's Office of Safety performs a wide variety of functions to help ensure railroad safety. The headquarters and field staff enforce safety regulations and statutes through routine inspections, assessments, investigation and analysis of accidents, management of state involvement in rail safety programs and implementation of highway-grade crossing safety programs.
Planning encourages innovative projects such as high-speed rail and magnetic levitation.
The most important contribution is the requirement that rail alternatives be considered in the state and local planning process. FRA is working with other elements of the Department of Transportation, the private sector, and state and local governments to ensure rail transportation is fully considered. The FRA inspection plan is a method to allocate FRA's limited inspector resources by analyzing railroad accident and operating statistics and past inspection results in order to prioritize future inspections. Inspection time is allotted to specific railroad inspection points based on the safety risk each poses. Safety managers ensure that inspectors are geographically distributed to where they are most needed.