AGENCY:
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION:
Notice of availability and request for comments.
SUMMARY:
This document provides the public with notice that, on May 21, 2026, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) submitted a request for amendment (RFA) to its FRA-certified positive train control (PTC) system. FRA is publishing this notice and inviting public comment on the railroad's RFA to its PTC system.
DATES:
FRA will consider comments received by June 25, 2026. FRA may consider comments received after that date to the extent practicable and without delaying implementation of valuable or necessary modifications to a PTC system.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
In general, title 49 United States Code (U.S.C.) section 20157(h) requires FRA to certify that a host railroad's PTC system complies with title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 236, subpart I, before the technology may be operated in revenue service. Before making certain changes to an FRA-certified PTC system or the associated FRA-approved PTC Safety Plan (PTCSP), a host railroad must submit, and obtain FRA's approval of, an RFA to its PTC system or PTCSP under 49 CFR 236.1021.
Under 49 CFR 236.1021(e), FRA's regulations provide that FRA will publish a notice in the
Federal Register
and invite public comment in accordance with 49 CFR part 211, if an RFA includes a request for approval of a material modification of a signal or train control system. Accordingly, this notice informs the public that on May 21, 2026, LIRR submitted an RFA to its PTCSP for its Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System II (ACSES II), which seeks FRA's approval for a temporary ACSES II outage on approximately four miles of the Main Line Branch to facilitate modifications to Queens interlocking complex, including the addition of signals. That RFA is available in Docket No. FRA-2010-0031.
Interested parties are invited to comment on LIRR's RFA by submitting written comments or data. During FRA's review of this railroad's RFA, FRA will consider any comments or data submitted within the timeline specified in this notice, and, to the extent practicable, without delaying implementation of valuable or necessary modifications to a PTC system.
See49 CFR 236.1021;
see also49 CFR 236.1011(e). Under 49 CFR 236.1021, FRA maintains the authority to approve, approve with conditions, or deny a railroad's RFA at FRA's sole discretion.
Privacy Act Notice
In accordance with 49 CFR 211.3, FRA solicits comments from the public to better inform its decisions. DOT posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information the commenter provides, to
https://www.regulations.gov,
as described in the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at
https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. See
https://www.regulations.gov/privacy-notice
for the privacy notice of
regulations.gov. To facilitate comment tracking, we encourage commenters to provide their name, or the name of their organization; however, submission of names is completely optional. If you wish to provide comments containing proprietary or confidential information, please contact FRA for alternate submission instructions.
Issued in Washington, DC.
Carolyn R. Hayward-Williams,
Director, Office of Railroad Systems and Technology.
3 comments have been received at Regulations.gov.
Agencies review all submissions and may choose to redact, or withhold, certain submissions (or portions thereof). Submitted comments may not be available to be read until the agency has approved them.