The Federal Railroad Administration is awarding $8.2 billion in grants for high-speed passenger rail projects as well as projects supporting capital improvements in existing rail corridors.
While the Class I railroads generally fund their own track improvements, freight rail service can benefit from passenger rail grants because there are parts of the U.S. rail network where passenger rail and freight rail share track. Projects awarded with grant funding may be seeking to separate passenger rail traffic and freight rail traffic or they may go toward track improvements that will ultimately improve both passenger and freight rail service.
The $8.2 billion will go toward 10 projects in nine states, including the creation of two new high-speed rail corridors — one in California’s Central Valley and one between Las Vegas and Southern California.
This latest funding round is in addition to $16.4 billion announced last month for 25 passenger rail-related projects along the U.S. Northeast corridor, according to a Friday news release.
The projects where freight rail could also benefit, according to an FRA fact sheet, include the following:
- Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC) received an $8.2 million grant to replace a bridge at milepost 190.5 on ARRC’s North Corridor main line, which is used by freight and passenger trains. The new bridge will remove existing rail car load weight restrictions to allow for 286,000-pound freight cars. ARRC will provide 20% in matching funds.
- California High-Speed Rail Authority received $3.07 billion to support activities related to advancing high-speed rail between Merced and Bakersfield. These activities include separating passenger rail service from the mainlines of BNSF and Union Pacific.
- Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority received $27.5 million for track improvements on the Downeaster Corridor between Brunswick, Maine, and the Massachusetts state line to improve existing service and support future expansion. The line is also a mainline of CSX. CSX will provide 20% in matching funds.
- Amtrak received $14.9 million for track and infrastructure improvements on BNSF tracks where Amtrak’s Empire Builder service operates in Malta, Montana. Amtrak and BNSF will also be providing 20% in matching funds.
- Virginia Passenger Rail Authority will receive $729 million to expand passenger rail capacity along 12 miles of a rail corridor that goes between Washington and Richmond, Virgina. Project improvements will include developing infrastructure to separate passenger rail traffic and freight rail traffic.
FRA also said Friday that it has identified 69 corridors in 44 states that could benefit in federal funding for capital improvements or new construction in support of passenger rail. This new planning program, Corridor ID, was also the result of the bipartisan infrastructure law. The corridors named in this program include upgrades to 15 existing rail projects, added or extended service on 47 new routes and the advancement of seven new high-speed rail projects, FRA said.
“President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law gave us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to think smart and think big about the future of rail in America, and we are taking full advantage of the resources we have to advance world-class passenger rail services nationwide,” FRA Administrator Amit Bose said in a Friday news release.
“Today’s announcement is another step forward as we advance transformative projects that will carry Americans for decades to come and provide them with convenient, climate-friendly alternatives to congested roads and airports.”
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