FRA Invites Public Comment on NIRC PTC System Amendment Request

Regs.gov: Federal Railroad Administration

Published February 24th, 2026

Detected March 15th, 2026

Summary

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has published a notice inviting public comment on a request from the Northeast Illinois Regional Corporation (NIRC) to amend its Positive Train Control (PTC) system. NIRC seeks approval for two planned system outages to support network maintenance and firewall upgrades.

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What changed

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is seeking public comment on a request submitted by the Northeast Illinois Regional Corporation (NIRC) on February 24, 2026, to amend its certified Positive Train Control (PTC) system. The amendment request (RFA) seeks approval for two planned PTC system outages necessary for network maintenance and firewall hardware upgrades, as required under 49 CFR 236.1021.

Interested parties are invited to submit comments by March 26, 2026, via regulations.gov. The FRA will consider comments received within this timeframe to inform its decision on whether to approve, approve with conditions, or deny NIRC's RFA. This process is part of the regulatory requirement for host railroads to obtain FRA approval for material modifications to their PTC systems before operation in revenue service.

What to do next

Review NIRC's RFA for its PTC system amendment request in Docket No. FRA-2010-0042.
Submit comments or data regarding the RFA by March 26, 2026, via regulations.gov.

Source document (simplified)

Content

ACTION:

Notice of availability and request for comments.

SUMMARY:

This document provides the public with notice that, on February 24, 2026, the Northeast Illinois Regional Corporation (NIRC)
submitted a request for amendment (RFA) to its FRA-certified positive train control (PTC) system seeking FRA's approval for
two planned PTC system outages to support required network maintenance and firewall hardware upgrades. FRA is publishing this
notice and inviting public comment on NIRC's RFA to its PTC system.

DATES:

FRA will consider comments received by March 26, 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-2010-0042. 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 24, 2026, NIRC submitted
an RFA to its PTCSP for its Interoperable Electronic Train Management System PTC system, which seeks FRA's approval for two
planned PTC system outages to support required network maintenance and firewall hardware upgrades. That RFA is available in
Docket No. FRA-2010-0042.

Interested parties are invited to comment on NIRC's RFA by submitting written comments or data. During FRA's review of NIRC'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. 2026-04449 Filed 3-5-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-06-P