Federal Railroad Administration April 17, 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On April 3, 2015 (80 FR 18292), the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) provided notice of a public hearing to receive views, data, and comments regarding BNSF Railway's (BNSF) petition for modification and extension of its waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained in title 49 Code of Federal Regulations part 232, Brake System Safety Standards for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and Equipment, in Docket Number FRA-2006-24812. The notice contained an incorrect date of the public hearing.

FRA is issuing this notice to advise the public that it intends to grant the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on behalf of its commuter railroad subsidiaries, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company (Metro-North), a waiver from FRA's Buy America requirement for the use of (a) transponders and (b) Temporary Speed Restriction (TSR) safety servers, which are made in Sweden. Transponders and TSR safety servers are two components of LIRR's and Metro-North's Positive Train Control system (PTC). The two non-domestic components represent approximately 1% of the $428 million total value of the contracts Metro-North and LIRR entered into with a system integrator to design and furnish PTC (PTC Contracts). The TSR safety servers cost less than $1 million and the transponders approximately $4 million. FRA anticipates funding the PTC Contracts, and other PTC-related projects, under a $967.1 million FRA Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing loan.