[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 31, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51858-51859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17277]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


Petition for Waiver of Compliance

    In accordance with part 211 of title 49 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration 
(FRA) received a request for a waiver of compliance with certain 
requirements of its safety standards. The individual petition is 
described below, including the party seeking relief, the regulatory 
provisions involved, the nature of the relief being requested, and the 
petitioner's arguments in favor of relief.

Indiana Northeastern Railroad Company (Docket Number FRA-2005-21963)

    The Indiana Northeastern Railroad Company (IN) seeks a waiver of 
compliance from the provisions of the Track Safety Standards, 49 CFR 
213.233(c), that requires a twice-weekly track inspection when 
operating passenger trains.
    The IN, a shortline railroad operating in the states of Indiana, 
Ohio, and Michigan, has commenced weekend excursion passenger train 
operation

[[Page 51859]]

necessitating a twice weekly track inspection required under Section 
213.233(c). In its petition, the IN states that train activity 
increases towards the end of the week and track maintenance is 
generally scheduled at the beginning of the week when maximum staffing 
is available.
    With the weekend excursions operating, the track supervisor 
traverses the line on each Monday to inspect the track that the 
passenger train will be operating over the upcoming weekend. Midweek 
the supervisor resumes the regular inspection of the entire line. The 
petitioner believes that the second inspection of the excursion 
trackage is redundant and adds another day to the inspection activity 
without any benefit.
    Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings 
by submitting their written views, data, or comments. FRA does not 
anticipate scheduling a public hearing in connection with these 
proceedings since the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any 
interested party desires an opportunity for oral comment, they should 
notify FRA, in writing, before the end of the comment period and 
specify the basis for their request.
    All communication concerning these proceedings should identify the 
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number 2005-
21963), and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket 
Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20590. Communications received within 45 days of the 
date of this notice will be considered by 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.

    Issued in Washington, DC on August 25, 2005.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 05-17277 Filed 8-30-05; 8:45 am]
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