2023-23637. Consolidated Rail Corporation's Request To Amend Its Positive Train Control System

AGENCY:

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION:

Notice of availability and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

This document provides the public with notice that, on October 16, 2023, the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) submitted a request for amendment (RFA) to its FRA-certified positive train control (PTC) system to notify FRA of a planned PTC outage to perform a necessary PTC Back Office Subsystem upgrade during December 2023. FRA is publishing this notice and inviting public comment on the railroad's RFA to its PTC system.

DATES:

FRA will consider comments received by November 15, 2023. FRA may consider comments received after that date to the extent practicable and without delaying implementation of valuable or necessary modifications to a PTC system.

ADDRESSES:

Comments: Comments may be submitted by going to https://www.regulations.gov and following the online instructions for submitting comments.

Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the applicable docket number. The relevant PTC docket number for this host railroad is Docket No. FRA–2010–0064. For convenience, all active PTC dockets are hyperlinked on FRA's website at https://railroads.dot.gov/​research-development/​program-areas/​train-control/​ptc/​railroads-ptc-dockets. All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov; this includes any personal information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gabe Neal, Staff Director, Signal, Train Control, and Crossings Division, telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In general, Title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) section 20157(h) requires FRA to certify that a host railroad's PTC system complies with title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 236, subpart I, before the technology may be operated in revenue service. Before making certain changes to an FRA-certified PTC system or the associated FRA-approved PTC Safety Plan (PTCSP), a host railroad must submit, and obtain FRA's approval of, an RFA to its PTC system or PTCSP under 49 CFR 236.1021.

Under 49 CFR 236.1021(e), FRA's regulations provide that FRA will publish a notice in the Federal Register and invite public comment in accordance with 49 CFR part 211, if an RFA includes a request for approval of a material modification of a signal and train control system. Accordingly, this notice informs the public that, on October 16, 2023, Conrail submitted an RFA to its PTCSP for its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I–ETMS) which seeks FRA's approval for a three-hour outage in December 2023 to perform an upgrade to Conrail's PTC Back Office Subsystem to improve the reliability and stability of Conrail's I–ETMS system. Conrail's RFA states that their I–ETMS system must be disabled in order to perform the PTC Back Office System upgrade. The RFA is available in Docket No. FRA–2010–0064.

Interested parties are invited to comment on Conrail's RFA to its PTC system by submitting written comments or data. During FRA's review of this railroad's RFA, FRA will consider any comments or data submitted within the timeline specified in this notice and to the extent practicable, without delaying implementation of valuable or necessary modifications to a PTC system. See49 CFR 236.1021; see also49 CFR 236.1011(e). Under 49 CFR 236.1021, FRA maintains the authority to approve, approve with conditions, or deny a railroad's RFA to its PTC system at FRA's sole discretion.

Privacy Act Notice

In accordance with 49 CFR 211.3, FRA solicits comments from the public to better inform its decisions. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to https://www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL–14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at https://www.transportation.gov/​privacy. See https://www.regulations.gov/​privacy-notice for the privacy notice of regulations.gov. To facilitate comment tracking, we encourage commenters to provide their name, or the name of their organization; however, submission of names is completely optional. If you wish to provide comments containing proprietary or confidential information, please contact FRA for alternate submission instructions.

Issued in Washington, DC.

Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams,

Director, Office of Railroad Systems and Technology.