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 or train control system. Accordingly, this notice informs the public that, on August 6, 2026, BRC submitted an RFA to its PTCSP for its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System (I-ETMS), which notifies FRA of four planned windows during which work will be performed on BRC's network infrastructure and seeks approval for temporary outages of I-ETMS during these planned windows. BRC does not plan to disable I-ETMS and will take measures to avoid any outages, but transient network behavior and unforeseen impacts arising from maintenance activities could result in brief losses of communication between BRC's I-ETMS Back Office Subsystem and I-ETMS Onboard Subsystem. That RFA is available in Docket No. FRA-2010-0062.

Interested parties are invited to comment on BRC's RFA by submitting written comments or data. During FRA's review of BRC's RFA, FRA will consider any comments or data submitted within ( printed page 52110) 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 at FRA's sole discretion.

Privacy Act Notice

In accordance with 49 CFR 211.3, FRA solicits comments from the public to inform its decisions. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to www.regulations.gov, as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at www.transportation.gov/​privacy. See 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 optional. If you wish to provide comments containing proprietary or confidential information, please contact FRA for alternate submission instructions.

91 FR 52109