Title 49TransportationRelease 119-73

§20503 Amending regulations and changing requirements

Title 49 › Subtitle SUBTITLE V— - RAIL PROGRAMS › Part PART A— - SAFETY › Chapter CHAPTER 205— - SIGNAL SYSTEMS › § 20503

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may change railroad signal rules if a carrier asks and gets approval, or on the Secretary’s own showing of good cause.

Full Legal Text

Title 49, §20503

Transportation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary of Transportation may amend a regulation or change a requirement applicable to a railroad carrier for installing, maintaining, inspecting, or repairing a signal system under this chapter—
(1)when the carrier files with the Secretary a request for the amendment or change and the Secretary approves the request; or
(2)on the Secretary’s own initiative for good cause shown.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 2050349 App.:26(c).Feb. 4, 1887, ch. 104, 24 Stat. 379, § 25(c); added Feb. 28, 1920, ch. 91, § 441, 41 Stat. 498; restated Aug. 26, 1937, ch. 818, 50 Stat. 836; Sept. 18, 1940, ch. 722, § 14(b), 54 Stat. 919; June 22, 1988, Pub. L. 100–342, § 17(3), (8), 102 Stat. 635, 636. 49 App.:1655(e)(6)(A).Oct. 15, 1966, Pub. L. 89–670, § 6(e)(6)(A), 80 Stat. 939. In this section, before clause (1), the text of 49 App.:26(c) (words before 2d proviso) is omitted as executed. The words “The Secretary of Transportation may amend . . . change” are substituted for “and approved by the Secretary of Transportation” and “the Secretary may . . . revise, amend, or modify” for clarity and to eliminate unnecessary words. The words “regulation or . . . a requirement applicable to a railroad carrier for installing, maintaining, inspecting, or repairing a signal system under this chapter” are substituted for “rules, standards, and instructions herein provided for” and “rules, standards, and instructions prescribed by him under this subsection” for clarity, for consistency in the revised title, and because of the restatement. Clause (1) is substituted for “such railroad may from time to time change . . . but such change shall not take effect and the new rules, standards, and instructions be enforced until they shall have been filed with” for clarity and to eliminate unnecessary words. The words “and as revised, amended, or modified they shall be obligatory upon the railroad after a copy thereof shall have been served as above provided” are omitted as being superseded by 5:ch. 5, subch. II.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

49 U.S.C. § 20503

Title 49Transportation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73