Canadian National Railway (CN) petitioned FRA for a waiver of compliance from 49 CFR 232.219 regarding the Class III airbrake test for helper locomotives equipped with the ‘‘Helperlink’’ system.
Specifically, CN is seeking relief on trains with one or more distributed power locomotives on the rear in helper operations without cutting in the brake pipe to the helper locomotive.
CN feels the Helperlink technology will help eliminate unnecessary risks to transportation employees because it would reduce the amount of mounting/dismounting equipment and reduce the number of slip/trip/fall incidents. Interested parties may submit comments on the petition until November 23, 2020. All comments must include the docket number.
