Orders: Automatic train control and advanced civil speed enforcement system; requirements for Northeast Corridor railroads; hearing,

[Federal Register: January 22, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 14)]

[Notices]

[Page 3389]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr22ja98-116]

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration

[FRA Docket No. 87-2, Notice. No. 6]

RIN 2130-AB20

Automatic Train Control and Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System; Northeast Corridor Railroads

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

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

SUMMARY: The Federal Railroad Administration will hold a public hearing concerning issues raised in a November 20, 1997 proposed order of particular applicability that would require all trains operating on the north end of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Boston, Massachusetts and New York, New York, to be controlled by locomotives equipped to respond to a new advanced civil speed enforcement system (ACSES) in addition to the automatic train control (ATC) system that is currently required on the NEC. The proposed order contains performance standards for the cab signal/ATC and ACSES systems on the NEC and would also authorize increases in certain maximum authorized train speeds and safety requirements supporting improved rail service.

DATES: (1) The hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 17, 1998, Eastern Standard Time.

(2) Any party wishing to participate in the public hearing should notify the Docket Clerk by telephone or fax at the numbers provided below, or by mail at the address provided below, by February 12, 1998. The notification should include who the party represents, the particular subject(s) the party plans to address, the party's mailing address and three copies of any oral statement that he or she intends to make at the hearing. Parties who do not meet this deadline may be denied the opportunity to present oral testimony, although their written statements will be included in the record of this proceeding.

(3) Parties who do not wish to testify, but wish to submit written comments for inclusion in the hearing docket should submit them by February 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: (1) Hearing location--9th Floor, 1120 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005.

(2) Ms. Renee Bridgers, Docket Clerk, FRA Docket No. 87-2, Office of the Chief Counsel, Federal Railroad Administration, Mail Stop 10, 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 (telephone (202) 632-3198, fax (202) 632-3709).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: W.E. Goodman, Staff Director, Signal and Train Control Division, Office of Safety, FRA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 (telephone (202) 632-3353), or Patricia V. Sun, Office of Chief Counsel, FRA, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 (telephone (202) 632-3183).

Background

The notice of proposed order was published on November 20, 1997 (62 FR 62097). In response to the proposed order, two commenters, the American Public Transit Association, and the Providence and Worcester Railroad, requested a public hearing. FRA is holding this public hearing in lieu of a previously scheduled Northeast Corridor Safety Committee meeting, which will be rescheduled and announced in a separate Federal Register notice.

Issued in Washington, D.C., on January 9, 1998. S. Mark Lindsey, Chief Counsel.

[FR Doc. 98-1075Filed1-21-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910-06-M