Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 168 / Thursday, September 2, 2021 / Notices 49409 

1The verified notice states that because Base does 

not currently control any rail carriers, no Board 

authority is required for Base to control TBR once 

TBR becomes a rail carrier. 

1Persons interested in submitting an OFA must 

first file a formal expression of intent to file an 

offer, indicating the type of financial assistance they 

wish to provide (i.e., subsidy or purchase) and 

demonstrating that they are preliminarily 

financially responsible. See 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)(i). 

2The Board will grant a stay if an informed 

decision on environmental issues (whether raised 

by a party or by the Board’s Office of Environmental 

Analysis (OEA) in its independent investigation) 

cannot be made before the exemption’s effective 

date. See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. Rail Lines, 5 

I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any request for a stay should 

be filed as soon as possible so that the Board may 

take appropriate action before the exemption’s 

effective date. 

3Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can 

be found at 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), 

respectively. 

(BNSF) at BNSF milepost 419.05 in 

Tulsa, Okla. (the Line). 

TBR states that the Line is owned by 

BNSF, which operated it as spur track. 

According to TBR, BNSF leases the 

premises that include the Line to Base, 

Inc. (Base), the sole equity member of 

TBR, which in turn has subleased the 

Line to TBR for an initial term of seven 

years.1 TBR further states that the 

agreements between BNSF and Base and 

between Base and TBR do not include 

any provision or agreement that would 

limit future interchange with a thirdparty connecting carrier. 

TBR certifies that its anticipated 

annual revenue will not exceed that of 

a Class III rail carrier and will not 

exceed $5 million. 

The transaction may be consummated 

on or after September 16, 2021, the 

effective date of the exemption (30 days 

after the verified notice was filed). 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the 

exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

may be filed at any time. The filing of 

a petition to revoke will not 

automatically stay the effectiveness of 

the exemption. Petitions for stay must 

be filed no later than September 9, 2021 

(at least seven days before the 

exemption becomes effective). 

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

FD 36536, should be filed with the 

Surface Transportation Board via 

e-filing on the Board’s website. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on TBR’s representative, 

Bradon J. Smith, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 

29 North Wacker Drive, Suite 800, 

Chicago, IL 60606. 

According to TBR, this action is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under 49 CFR 

1105.6(c) and from historic reporting 

requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b). 

Board decisions and notices are 

available at www.stb.gov. 

Decided: August 30, 2021. 

By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Brendetta Jones, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2021–19008 Filed 9–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. AB 1317X] 

Kiski Junction Railroad, Inc.— 

Abandonment Exemption—in 

Armstrong and Westmoreland 

Counties, Pa. 

Kiski Junction Railroad, Inc. (KJRR), 

has filed a verified notice of exemption 

under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F— 

Exempt Abandonments to abandon two 

segments of rail line: (1) Line Code 

2229, from at or near milepost 30.0 in 

Alladin, Pa., to milepost 28.8, in 

Armstrong and Westmoreland Counties, 

Pa.; and (2) Line Code 2242, from 

milepost 0.0 at the connection of Line 

Code 2229, to milepost 4.0, in 

Armstrong County (together, the Line). 

The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service 

Zip Codes 15656, 15682, 15690, and 

16226. 

KJRR has certified that: (1) No local 

traffic has moved over the Line for at 

least two years; (2) there is no overhead 

traffic on the Line that would need to be 

rerouted; (3) no formal complaint filed 

by a user of rail service on the Line (or 

by a state or local government entity 

acting on behalf of such user) regarding 

cessation of service over the Line either 

is pending with the Surface 

Transportation Board (Board) or with 

any U.S. District Court or has been 

decided in favor of a complainant 

within the two-year period; and (4) the 

requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7(b) and 

1105.8(c) (notice of environmental and 

historic reports), 49 CFR 1105.12 

(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental 

agencies) have been met. 

As a condition to this exemption, any 

employee adversely affected by the 

abandonment shall be protected under 

Oregon Short Line Railroad— 

Abandonment Portion Goshen Branch 

Between Firth & Ammon, in Bingham & 

Bonneville Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C. 

91 (1979). To address whether this 

condition adequately protects affected 

employees, a petition for partial 

revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) 

must be filed. 

Provided no formal expression of 

intent to file an offer of financial 

assistance (OFA) has been received,1

this exemption will be effective on 

October 2, 2021, unless stayed pending 

reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do 

not involve environmental issues must 

be filed by September 10, 2021.2 Formal 

expressions of intent to file an OFA 

under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2) and interim 

trail use/rail banking requests under 49 

CFR 1152.29 must be filed by September 

13, 2021.3 Petitions to reopen or 

requests for public use conditions under 

49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by 

September 22, 2021. 

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. 

AB 1317X, should be filed with the 

Surface Transportation Board via 

e-filing on the Board’s website. In 

addition, a copy of each pleading must 

be served on KJRR’s representative, 

Justin J. Marks, Clark Hill PLC, 1001 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1300 

South, Washington, DC 20004. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemption 

is void ab initio. 

KJRR has filed a combined 

environmental and historic report that 

addresses the potential effects, if any, of 

the abandonment on the environment 

and historic resources. OEA will issue a 

Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft 

EA) by September 7, 2021. The Draft EA 

will be available to interested persons 

on the Board’s website, by writing to 

OEA, or by calling OEA at (202) 245– 

0294. Assistance for the hearing 

impaired is available through the 

Federal Relay Service at (800) 877–8339. 

Comments on environmental and 

historic preservation matters must be 

filed within 15 days after the Draft EA 

becomes available to the public. 

Environmental, historic preservation, 

public use, or trail use/rail banking 

conditions will be imposed, where 

appropriate, in a subsequent decision. 

Pursuant to the provisions of 49 CFR 

1152.29(e)(2), KJRR shall file a notice of 

consummation with the Board to signify 

that it has exercised the authority 

granted and fully abandoned the Line. If 

consummation has not been effected by 

KJRR’s filing of a notice of 

consummation by September 2, 2022, 

and there are no legal or regulatory 

barriers to consummation, the authority 

to abandon will automatically expire. 

Board decisions and notices are 

available at www.stb.gov. 

Decided: August 30, 2021. 


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49410 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 168 / Thursday, September 2, 2021 / Notices 

1 49 CFR 236.1005. 

2 49 CFR part 218. 

3 49 CFR 236.1005. 

By the Board, Scott M. Zimmerman, Acting 

Director, Office of Proceedings. 

Raina White, 

Clearance Clerk. 

[FR Doc. 2021–18972 Filed 9–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4915–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Railroad Administration 

[Safety Advisory 2021–01] 

Positive Train Control Interface Design 

Issue With Locomotive and Cab Car 

Braking Systems 

AGENCY: Federal Railroad 

Administration (FRA), Department of 

Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Notice of Safety Advisory. 

SUMMARY: FRA is issuing Safety 

Advisory 2021–01 to make the rail 

industry, including railroads and 

railroad employees, aware of a recently 

identified interface design issue relating 

to how positive train control (PTC) 

systems in use throughout the United 

States interface with locomotive and cab 

car braking systems. This recently 

identified interface design issue allows 

a train crewmember to circumvent a 

PTC enforcement by manually cutting 

out the pilot valve/brake stand, 

commonly known as the cut-out valve, 

prior to the PTC system initiating the 

brakes. This interface design issue poses 

a significant safety risk by allowing a 

PTC system to be disabled and unable 

to initiate the brakes to prevent a trainto-train collision, over-speed 

derailment, incursion into an 

established work zones, or the 

movement of a train through a switch 

left in the wrong position. This Safety 

Advisory recommends that all railroads 

operating with PTC systems 

immediately remind crewmembers that 

circumventing a PTC enforcement is 

subject to civil penalty or 

disqualification for the locomotive 

engineer or conductor responsible; audit 

the designs of PTC systems as 

implemented on all types of 

locomotives and cab cars; assess the 

extent to which the design of the system 

could allow a locomotive or cab car’s 

PTC system to be circumvented by a 

crewmember; develop and implement a 

plan to mitigate and/or correct this 

design issue; and provide FRA with a 

schedule for completion of the 

identified actions. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gabe Neal, Staff Director, Signal, Train 

Control and Crossings Division, Office 

of Railroad Systems and Technology, at 

telephone: (816) 516–7168 or email: 

gabe.neal@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Positive train control (PTC) systems 

must be designed to prevent train-totrain collisions, over-speed derailments, 

incursions into established work zones, 

and the movement of a train through a 

switch left in the wrong position.1 PTC 

accomplishes this by using technology 

to monitor train speed and train 

locations, provide warnings for the 

traincrew to take action, and 

automatically initiate braking if the 

traincrew does not take action. 

FRA is aware of a recently identified 

design issue relating to how PTC 

systems in use throughout the United 

States interface with locomotive and cab 

car braking systems. This interface 

design issue allows a crewmember to 

circumvent a PTC enforcement by 

manually cutting out the pilot valve/ 

brake stand, commonly known as the 

cut-out valve, prior to the PTC system 

initiating the brakes. If a PTC system is 

allowed to be disabled by the actions of 

a crewmember, the PTC system can no 

longer prevent a train-to-train collision, 

over-speed derailment, incursion into 

an established work zone, or the 

movement of a train through a switch 

left in the wrong position. 

Although FRA has found that all PTC 

systems are potentially impacted by this 

interface design issue, FRA notes that 

only some interface designs between the 

PTC system and the locomotive or cab 

car braking system allow a PTC 

enforcement to be disabled. FRA 

believes that the interface designs of 

most concern are limited to a number of 

older locomotives equipped with 

mechanical braking systems, and the 

interface design is likely not an issue on 

most newer locomotives equipped with 

electronic braking systems. On PTCequipped locomotives and cab cars with 

interface designs with this issue, 

manually cutting out the pilot valve/ 

brake stand disables the PTC system 

enforcement capability. FRA recognizes 

that a locomotive or cab car PTC system 

is considered a ‘‘safety device’’ under 

FRA’s regulations 2 and that it is 

unlawful for a railroad employee to 

operate the equipment with such a 

safety device disabled without 

authorization. Accordingly, a system 

that allows such interference in its 

operation does not comply with the 

applicable statutory or regulatory 

requirements.3 In addition, a PTC 

system that allows such interference 

presents a significant safety risk in that 

it can no longer perform its required 

functions. 

FRA became aware of this issue 

through three recent events: 

• On May 27, 2021, during testing of 

the Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement 

System II (ACSES II) PTC system aboard 

a freight train, an FRA PTC Specialist 

witnessed an engineer circumvent a 

penalty brake application while 

operating in an overspeed condition. 

The engineer placed the pilot valve/ 

brake stand in the cut-out position prior 

to PTC system enforcement of the 

overspeed condition. When the 

overspeed condition no longer existed, 

the pilot valve/brake stand was returned 

to the cut-in position, and the train 

continued without a PTC system 

penalty. 

• On July 13, 2021, during testing of 

the Interoperable Electronic Train 

Management System (I–ETMS) PTC 

system on a freight locomotive, FRA 

conducted a test in which a zero speed 

temporary speed restriction (TSR) was 

issued to the train and the pilot valve/ 

brake stand was placed into the cut-out 

position prior to PTC system 

enforcement of the TSR. This action 

allowed the train to circumvent PTC 

system enforcement. 

• On July 21, 2021, during testing of 

the ACSES II PTC system on a passenger 

train, FRA conducted a similar test in 

which a zero speed temporary speed 

restriction (TSR) was issued to the train 

and the pilot valve/brake stand was 

placed into the cut-out position prior to 

PTC system enforcement of the TSR. 

This action achieved similar results, 

allowing the train to circumvent the 

PTC system enforcement with one 

exception; after placing the pilot valve/ 

brake stand back into the cut-in 

position, the train encountered a PTC 

penalty brake application. 

Safety Advisory 2021–01 

As shown by the incidents described 

above, rail operations face a safety risk 

due to the interface design issue that 

allows PTC enforcement to be 

circumvented by cutting out the pilot 

valve/brake stand. Such risks must be 

addressed to provide for the safety of 

train operations, and thus FRA 

recommends that railroads do the 

following: 

(1) Immediately remind railroad 

crewmembers that, along with the 

unauthorized disabling of a PTC system, 

circumventing PTC enforcement by 

manually cutting out the pilot valve/ 

brake stand when not authorized is a 

revocable event for the locomotive 

engineer or conductor responsible, and 


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