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 PTCSP, a host railroad must submit, and obtain FRA's approval of, an RFA to its 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 host railroads' recent, joint RFA to their PTCSPs is available in their respective public PTC dockets, and this notice provides an opportunity for public comment.

On June 24, 2022, in response to FRA comments, the following 20 host railroads jointly submitted an RFA to their respective PTCSPs for their Interoperable Electronic Train Management Systems: Alaska Railroad Corporation, The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, BNSF Railway, Caltrain, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), CSX Transportation, Inc., Kansas City Southern Railway, Kansas City Terminal Railway, National Passenger Railroad Corporation (Amtrak), New Mexico Rail Runner Express, Norfolk Southern Railway, North County Transit District, Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (Metra), Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink), Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, and Union Pacific Railroad. Their joint RFA is available in Docket Numbers FRA-2010-0028, -0029, -0039, -0042, -0043, -0045, -0048, -0049, -0051, -0054, -0056, -0057, -0058, -0059, -0060, -0061, -0062, -0064, -0065, and -0070. Interested parties are invited to comment on this RFA by submitting written comments or data. During FRA's review of these railroads' joint 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 PTC systems. 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 these railroads' joint RFA to their PTCSPs 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.

87 FR 42538