Amtrak PTC System Amendment Request - Public Comment

Regs.gov: Federal Railroad Administration

Detected March 15th, 2026

Summary

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is publishing a notice regarding Amtrak's request to amend its Positive Train Control (PTC) system. The agency is inviting public comment on Amtrak's request for a temporary outage to conduct a Back Office Server upgrade.

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What changed

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a notice of availability and request for comments concerning an amendment request submitted by Amtrak on February 27, 2026. Amtrak seeks approval for a temporary outage to upgrade its Back Office Server for its FRA-certified Positive Train Control (PTC) system, specifically the Interoperable Electronic Train Management System. This request falls under 49 CFR 236.1021, which requires FRA to publish and solicit public comment on material modifications to train control systems.

Regulated entities and interested parties are invited to submit comments by March 30, 2026, via regulations.gov. While the FRA will consider comments received after this date to the extent practicable, prompt submission is encouraged. The FRA retains the discretion to approve, approve with conditions, or deny Amtrak's request. Compliance officers should review the RFA and consider submitting comments if the proposed upgrade or outage could impact operations or safety.

What to do next

Review Amtrak's RFA for its PTC system amendment request.
Submit comments to the FRA by March 30, 2026, if relevant to operational or safety impacts.

Source document (simplified)

Content

ACTION:

Notice of availability and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

This document provides the public with notice that, on February 27, 2026, Amtrak submitted a request for amendment (RFA) to
one of its FRA-certified positive train control (PTC) systems. 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 March 30, 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.

ADDRESSES:

Comments: Comments may be submitted by going to https://www.regulations.gov and following the online instructions for submitting comments.

Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and the applicable docket number. The relevant PTC docket number for this host
railroad is Docket No. FRA-2010-0029. For convenience, all active PTC dockets are hyperlinked on FRA's website at https://railroads.dot.gov/research-development/program-areas/train-control/ptc/railroads-ptc-dockets. All comments received will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov; this includes any personal information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gabe Neal, Staff Director, Signal, Train Control, and Crossings Division, telephone: 816-516-7168, email: Gabe.Neal@dot.gov.

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 February 27, 2026, Amtrak submitted
an RFA, dated February 12, 2026, to its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System, which seeks FRA's approval for a
temporary outage to conduct a Back Office Server upgrade. That RFA is available in Docket No. FRA-2010-0029.

Interested parties are invited to comment on Amtrak'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. See 49

  CFR 236.1021; *see also* 49 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. [FR Doc. 2026-04701 Filed 3-9-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-06-P