It publishes recommended practices for the design, construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure, which are used in the United States and Canada.

AREMA is headquartered in Lanham, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. As stated in their mission statement, AREMA promotes "The development and advancement of both technical and practical knowledge and recommended practices pertaining to the design, construction and maintenance of railway infrastructure."

AREMA recognizes outstanding achievements in railway engineering with the annual William Walter Hay Award.

The group provided a forum to exchange information and create solutions to problems that confront the railway industry.

Rail joints, switches, frogs and ties were among the subjects studied, leading to the standardization of maintenance practices.

In 1895, the Railway Signaling Club was organized at a meeting in Chicago, Illinois, and created a code of rules governing the operation of interlockings.