03-27059. Notice of Application for Approval of Discontinuance or Modification of a Railroad Signal System or Relief From the Requirements of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 236

Pursuant to Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 235 and 49 U.S.C. 20502(a), the following railroad has petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) seeking approval for the discontinuance or modification of the signal system or relief from the requirements of 49 CFR part 236 as detailed below.

Docket No. FRA-2003-16096

Applicant: CSX Transportation, Incorporated, Mr. Eric G. Peterson, Assistant Chief Engineer, Signal Design and Construction,4901 Belfort Road, Suite 130 (S/C J-370),Jacksonville, Florida 32256.

CSX Transportation, Incorporated seeks approval of the proposed modification of the signal systems on the two main tracks and yard tracks, at West Keyser, West Virginia, milepost BA-203.1, on the C&O Division, Mountain Subdivision. The proposed changes are as follows:

1. Removal of the manually controlled “West Keyser” interlocker and switch No. 28;

2. Conversion of all other switches (No.'s 22, 24, 25, and 29) to hand operation;

3. The installation of intermediate signals at milepost BA-203.1;

4. Conversion of Rules 255-259(93) to Rules D251(93) between milepost BA-203 and milepost BA-203.2, with the No. 1 main track as westbound and the No. 2 main track as eastbound; and

5. Conversion of Rules 265-271(93) to Rules D251(93) between milepost BA-203.2 and milepost BA-206.4, with the No. 1 main track as westbound.

The reason given for the proposed changes is to eliminate facilities no longer needed in present day operation.

Any interested party desiring to protest the granting of an application shall set forth specifically the grounds upon which the protest is made, and include a concise statement of the interest of the party in the proceeding. Additionally, one copy of the protest shall be furnished to the applicant at the address listed above.

All communications concerning this proceeding should be identified by the docket number and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Central Docket Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001. Communications received within 45 days of the date of this notice will be considered by the FRA before final action is taken. Comments received after that date will be considered as far as practicable. All written communications concerning these proceedings are available for examination during regular business hours (9 a.m.—5 p.m.) at the above facility. All documents in the public docket are also available for inspection and copying on the Internet at the docket facility's Web site at http://dms.dot.gov.

FRA wishes to inform all potential commenters that anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages 19477-78) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov.

FRA expects to be able to determine these matters without an oral hearing. However, if a specific request for an oral hearing is accompanied by a showing that the party is unable to adequately present his or her position by written statements, an application may be set for public hearing.

Issued in Washington, DC on October 22, 2003.

Grady C. Cothen,

Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program Development.