Enhancing freight railcar onboard telematics and sensor development pilot program

(a) Establishment The Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration shall establish a pilot program to— (1) assist freight railcar owners and freight railcar manufacturers in the development of freight railcar onboard sensor technologies to add visibility to the safety of the freight railcar asset and commodity within the freight railcar asset; (2) encourage development of freight railcar onboard sensors that communicate to the freight railcar onboard gateway devices to offer future capabilities of real-time visibility of— (A) wheel and wheel bearing temperature; (B) whether a hand brake is on or off; (C) whether a hatch is open or closed; and (D) internal railcar temperature; and (3) carry out any of the activities described in paragraph (1) and (2) for purposes of informing railcar owners or operators on maintenance requirements, and enable operators, shippers, and railcar owners to possibly identify railcars that could become a hazard. (b) Eligible entities Eligible entities for funding under the pilot program under this section are freight railcar owners. (c) Limitation To be eligible for any expenditure of funds under this section, a freight railcar and any sensitive technology relating to such railcar shall comply with the requirements of section 20171 of title 49, United States Code. (d) Report to Congress Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report on— (1) the activities carried out with funds provided under this section; and (2) the effectiveness of developed freight railcar onboard sensors by outlining the types and numbers of sensors that have become industry accepted and are in use on freight railcars. (e) Definitions (1) Freight railcar onboard sensor The term freight railcar onboard sensor means the onboard sensor that communicates or signals the freight railcar onboard telematics device or gateway device physically installed on a freight railcar that is purchased and installed by, and owned by the railcar owner that collects and transmits data about the railcar asset to the railcar owner, data system, or data collection point. (2) Railroad freight car The term railroad freight car means a car designed to carry freight or railroad personnel by rail, including— (A) a box railcar; (B) a refrigerator railcar; (C) a ventilator railcar; (D) an intermodal well railcar; (E) a gondola railcar; (F) a hopper railcar; (G) an auto rack railcar; (H) a flat railcar; (I) a special railcar; (J) a caboose railcar; (K) a tank railcar; and (L) a yard railcar. (3) Telematics The term telematics means a technology that— (A) relies on telecommunications, informatics, and computer and data processing; (B) generates data and informatics from gateway devices fixed to railcars and provide for the exchange of information over a distance using battery or solar powered wireless connections; and (C) includes the method upon which freight railcars are monitored by using GPS technology through a gateway device using on-board diagnostics to plot a railcar’s movements and, if applicable, gather railcar equipment health and condition data from other onboard railcar sensors when applied. (4) Gateway device The term gateway device means a network hardware or software node used in freight railcar telecommunications that— (A) connects two networks with different transmission protocols together; (B) serve as an entry and exit point for a network as all data collected from the railcar must pass through or communicate with the gateway prior to being routed; (C) are distinct from routers or switches in that they communicate using more than one protocol to connect multiple networks; and (D) may be any device on a freight railcar that is embedded with electronics, software, sensors, or other connectivity, that enables the device to connect to, collect data from, or exchange data with another device, including— (i) railcar onboard telematics; (ii) global positioning system satellite and cellular location tracking systems; (iii) railcar event status sensors; (iv) railcar predictive component condition and performance monitoring sensors; and (v) similar sensitive technologies embedded into freight railcar components and sub-assemblies. (f) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029, to remain available until expended.