[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 5536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01667]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2019-0099]


Program Approval: Norfolk Southern Railway Company

AGENCY: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of 
Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Notice of approval.

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SUMMARY: FRA is issuing this notice to explain its rationale for 
approving a Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) petition for a Test 
Program designed to test track inspection technologies (i.e., an 
autonomous locomotive-mounted geometry measurement system and an 
automated optical system) and new operational approaches to track 
inspections and its rationale for granting a limited, temporary 
suspension of a substantive FRA rule that is necessary to facilitate 
the conduct of the Test Program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yu-Jiang Zhang, Staff Director, Track 
Division, Office of Railroad Safety, FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, 
Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202) 493-6460 or email 
[email protected]; Aaron Moore, Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, 
FRA, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202) 
493-7009 or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 1, 2019, NS petitioned FRA under 
Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 211.51 to suspend 
certain requirements of FRA's track safety regulations to conduct a 
program to test new track inspection technologies (i.e., an autonomous 
locomotive-mounted geometry measurement system and an automated optical 
system) and new operational approaches to track inspections. NS also 
submitted a written Test Program providing a description of the 
proposed tests and the geographic scope of the testing territory.
    The Test Program specifies that the tests will be conducted on 
approximately 1,042 miles of main and siding tracks of the former 
Norfolk & Western route from Norfolk, Virginia to Portsmouth, Ohio on 
NS's Pocahontas Division.
    The Test Program is designed to test autonomous locomotive-mounted 
geometry measurement systems and gradually decreased manual visual 
inspections as an alternative to FRA's inspection frequency 
requirements. NS indicates that it will continue to use other 
inspection technologies during the Test Program, including (1) Sperry 
rail flaw and joint bar inspections, and (2) Vehicle/Track Interaction, 
a locomotive-based ride quality inspection system. The Test Program 
will be carried out in three separate phases over the course of one 
year as detailed in Exhibit C of the Test Program (available for review 
at www.regulations.gov (docket number FRA-2019-0099)).
    After review and analysis of NS's petition for a Test Program, 
subject to certain conditions designed to ensure safety, FRA approved 
NS's Test Program and suspended the requirements of 49 CFR 
213.233(b)(3) \1\ and (c) as necessary to carry out the Test Program. A 
copy of FRA's letter approving NS's Test Program and granting the 
requested limited temporary suspension of 49 CFR 213.233(b)(3) and (c), 
as well as a complete copy of the Test Program, is available in docket 
number FRA-2019-0099 at www.regulations.gov. FRA's letter approving 
NS's Test Program and granting the requested limited temporary 
suspension of certain regulations specifically details the conditions 
NS will need to undertake during the Test Program. As required by 49 
CFR 211.51(c), FRA is providing this explanatory statement describing 
the Test Program.
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    \1\ The suspension of 49 CFR 213.233(b)(3) only applies to Phase 
3 of the Test Program.
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    As explained more fully in its approval letter, FRA finds that the 
temporary, limited suspension of 49 CFR 213.233(b)(3) and (c) is 
necessary to the conduct of the approved Test Program, which is 
specifically designed to evaluate the effectiveness of new automated 
track inspection technologies and operational methods. Furthermore, FRA 
also finds that the scope and application of the granted suspension of 
49 CFR 213.233(b)(3) and (c) as applied to the Test Program are limited 
to that necessary to conduct the Test Program. Finally, FRA's approval 
letter outlines the conditions of the Test Program that will ensure 
standards sufficient to assure safety.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on January 27, 2020.
John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-01667 Filed 1-29-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-06-P