Block register territory (BRT) is a designation applied to some lightly used segments of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

track in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In these areas, trains are only authorized to move into the territory when a special type of log book is filled out correctly. BRT is described in the

General Code of Operating Rules The General Code of Operating Rules (GCOR) is a set of operating rules for railroads in the United States. The GCOR is used by Class I railroads west of Chicago, most of the Class II railroads, and many Short-line railroads. Some railroads in nort ...

(GCOR) as Rule 6.15. A standard block register has rows divided into five columns: *An identifier for the train, work crew, or other equipment using the line *The last name of the employee in charge of the equipment or crew *The current date *The time at which the track was entered *The time at which the track was cleared The first four columns of the register are filled out upon entering the block. When the track is exited, the last column is filled out and the entire entry is crossed out. Generally, only one train can occupy block register territory at a time. Additional trains are only allowed to occupy the block if the operator of the incoming train has contacted all of the other employees named in the open entries in the block register. Train movements are then made at restricted speed, a low enough speed that the train could stop within half the distance between it and an oncoming train or obstacle.

References

{{US-rail-transport-stub Rail transport operations