[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 45 (Friday, March 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13230-13231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-04655]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[Docket No. FRA-2020-0013]


Program Approval: CSX Transportation

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 CSX Transportation (CSX) Test Program designed to test 
track inspection technologies (i.e., an autonomous track geometry 
measurement system) and new operational approaches to track 
inspections, as well as 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 25, 2019, CSX 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 track geometry measurement system) and new operational 
approaches to track inspections. CSX 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 two 
separate segments totaling approximately 1,818 miles of main and siding 
tracks in 13 subdivisions of CSX's Chicago, Great Lakes, Northern, and 
Jacksonville Zones.
    The Test Program is designed to test autonomous track geometry 
measurement systems and gradually decreased manual visual inspections 
as an alternative to FRA's inspection frequency requirements. CSX 
indicates that it will continue to use other inspection technologies 
during the Test Program, including: (1) Vehicle Track Interaction 
monitoring systems; (2) Sperry joint bar crack detection systems; (3) 
Georgetown Rail's Aurora Tie Inspection technology; (4) ground 
penetrating radar; (5) lidar; and (6) laser rail profiling and cant 
measurements. The Test Program will be carried out in three separate 
phases over the course of 18 months as detailed in Exhibit C of the 
Test Program (available for review at www.regulations.gov (docket 
number FRA-2020-0013)).
    After review and analysis of CSX's petition for approval of its 
Test Program, subject to certain conditions designed to ensure safety, 
FRA approved CSX's Test Program and suspended the requirements of 49 
CFR 213.233(c) as necessary to carry out the Test Program. A copy of 
FRA's letter approving CSX's Test Program and granting the requested 
limited temporary suspension of 49 CFR 213.233(c), as well as a 
complete copy of the Test Program, is available in docket number FRA-
2020-0013 at www.regulations.gov. FRA's letter approving CSX's Test 
Program and granting the requested limited temporary suspension of 
certain regulations specifically details the conditions CSX 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.
    As explained more fully in its approval letter, FRA finds that the 
temporary, limited suspension of 49 CFR 213.233(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(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

[[Page 13231]]

ensure standards sufficient to assure safety.

John Karl Alexy,
Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety, Chief Safety Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-04655 Filed 3-5-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P