[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 121 (Friday, June 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 36166]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9969]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration


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 railroads have 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 Number FRA-2006-24987]

Applicants: Union Pacific Railroad Company, Mr. W.E. Wimmer, Vice 
President--Engineering, 1400 Douglas Street, Mail Stop 0910, Omaha, 
Nebraska 68179.
BNSF Railway Company, Mr. Ralph E. Young, Director Signal Engineering, 
4515 Kansas Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66106-1199.

    The Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) and the BNSF Railway 
Company, jointly seek approval of the proposed modification of the 
traffic control system on the two main tracks, between milepost 232 and 
milepost 235 on the UP's Houston West Belt Subdivision, near Houston, 
Texas. The proposed changes consist of the removal of four control 
points, conversion of the remaining industry lead switches to hand 
operation with leaving signals, and removal of several intermediate 
signals.
    The reason given for the proposed changes is that the removal of 
unnecessary switches and signals will allow more trains to move through 
the corridor efficiently without undue delay, while maintaining safety.
    Any interested party desiring to protest the granting of an 
application shall set forth specifically the grounds upon which the 
protest is made, and contain 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 June 19, 2006.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
 [FR Doc. E6-9969 Filed 6-22-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P