[Federal Register: May 21, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 99)]
[Notices]
[Page 29345-29346]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21my04-123]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
In accordance with Part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) received a request for a waiver of compliance with certain
requirements of its safety standards. The individual petition is
described below, including the party seeking relief, the regulatory
provisions involved, the nature of the relief being requested, and the
petitioner's arguments in favor of relief.
Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation (Metra)
[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2003-16891]
The Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corporation
(Metra) seeks a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the
Railroad Operating Practices, 49 CFR Part 218. Specifically, Metra
requests relief from the requirements of 49 CFR 218.25, Workers on a
Main Track, at Amtrak's Chicago Union Station.
Metra operates passenger trains out of the north side of the
Chicago Union Station, which were formally operated by the Milwaukee
Road. In the past, Metra conducted its operations under the conditions
of waiver RSOR 82-1, which had been previously granted to the Milwaukee
Road on May 24, 1982. This waiver provided relief from the requirements
of Sec. 218.27(c) and (e) at the Chicago Union Station on tracks 1-3-
5-7-9-11 and 13, for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul and Pacific
Railroad Company. That waiver prevented enginemen from coupling to
equipment until a carman had assured the engineer that the 480-volt
standby cable had been disconnected.
It allowed carmen to plug and unplug the 480-volt standby cable to
the equipment after the engine has been coupled to the equipment. It
required a yellow light to be displayed from the north end marker
bracket on the last car of the train, platform side, prior to
connecting the standby cable. An engineman was prohibited from
restoring AC power to the train from the head end, until the yellow
light was removed. The reason the Milwaukee Road requested the relief
was to avoid filling the area under Union Station with diesel fumes.
They stated that the time it would take to establish and/or remove blue
signal protection was too long.
[[Page 29346]]
In early December 2003, Amtrak changed the status of the
aforementioned station tracks from other than main track to main track,
thereby voiding the provisions of the original waiver. Blue signal
protection is now shifted from Sec. 218.27, Workers on Other Than Main
Track, to Sec. 218.25, Workers on Main Track.
Metra is requesting FRA to consider allowing the provisions of the
old Milwaukee Road waiver to be expanded to include the provisions of
Sec. 218.25 for all stub-ended tracks at Chicago Union Station. This
will permit the railroad to connect and disconnect standby power to the
cab car or locomotive end of the train(s) which are at or near the
bumping post of the former ``other than main track,'' when they are in
the same position on the new stub ended tracks.
Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings
by submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate
scheduling a public hearing in connection with these proceedings since
the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested party
desires an opportunity for oral comment, they should notify FRA, in
writing, before the end of the comment period and specify the basis for
their request.
All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-
2003-16891) and must be submitted to the Docket Clerk, DOT Docket
Management Facility, Room PL-401 (Plaza Level), 400 7th Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20590. Communications received within 30 days of the
date of this notice will be considered by 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.
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). The Statement
may also be found at http://dms.dot.gov.
Issued in Washington, DC on May 17, 2004.
Grady C. Cothen, Jr.,
Acting Associate Administrator for Safety.
[FR Doc. 04-11590 Filed 5-20-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P