[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 224 (Tuesday, November 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70654-70655]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-23026]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 railroad has 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-2005-22824

    Applicant: National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Mr. William 
Crosbie, Senior Vice President, Operations, 60 Massachusetts Avenue, 
NE., Washington, DC 20002.
    The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) with the 
concurrence from Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT) and 
the Providence and Worcester

[[Page 70655]]

Railroad Company (P&W), seeks approval of the proposed modification of 
five remote-controlled interlockings protecting movable bridges on 
Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, New England Division, in Connecticut, on 
Main Tracks No. 1 and No. 2, as follows:
    1. The discontinuance and removal of the four power-operated 
derails at ``Conn,'' milepost 106.8, at the Connecticut River, in Old 
Saybrook, Connecticut;
    2. The discontinuance and removal of the four power-operated 
derails at ``Nan,'' milepost 116.7, at the Niantic River, in Niantic, 
Connecticut;
    3. The discontinuance and removal of the four power-operated 
derails at ``Shaws Cove,'' milepost 122.5, in New London, Connecticut;
    4. The discontinuance and removal of the four power-operated 
derails at ``Groton,'' milepost 124.2, at the Thames River, Groton, 
Connecticut; and
    5. The discontinuance and removal of the four power-operated 
derails at ``Mystic River,'' milepost 131.9, in Mystic, Connecticut;
    The changes proposed consist of the removal of four derails at each 
interlocking, one for each track in each direction. Each of the 
interlocking home signals protecting these derails and the associated 
movable bridges have been equipped with the Northeast Corridor 100 Hz 
coded cab signal system with speed control, or Automatic Train Control 
(ATC). The interlockings have also been equipped with Amtrak's Advanced 
Civil Speed Enforcement System (ACSES) Positive Train Stop (PTS), in 
addition to ATC.
    The reason given for the proposed changes is that removal of the 
derails is to eliminate maintenance and operation of obsolete hardware 
no longer needed, and to reduce delays to trains caused by failures of 
the derails and the associated movable bridges. The derails have been 
rendered obsolete by ATC and ACSES technologies, which enforce slowing 
and stopping of trains prior to passing the interlocking home signals 
in stop position, rather than derail the train after it passes the stop 
signal.
    Any interested party desiring to protest the granting of an 
application shall set forth specifically the grounds upon which the 
protest is made, and include 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 November 15, 2005.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Safety Standards and Program 
Development.
[FR Doc. 05-23026 Filed 11-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P