The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced more than $2.4 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for 122 rail improvement projects in 41 states and Washington, D.C. These projects will make rail safer, more reliable, and more resilient, getting goods and people where they need to be quickly with fewer disruptions, lower shipping costs and less pollution.
Administered through FRA’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program, grants being announced will benefit every region of the country, especially rural communities. Projects in this round of selections reflect the broad array of rail safety and service improvements eligible under this program, such as upgrading track, replacing or rehabilitating aging bridges, expanding rail connections at ports, adding modern locomotives to fleets, and more. The CRISI Program is also the only federal grant program prioritizing smaller, short line railroads vital to the American economy and regional supply chains.
This announcement is part of a series of investments the Biden-Harris Administration has made in nearly 300 rail projects and dozens of emerging passenger rail corridors across the country through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded FRA grant programs. This marks the most significant investment in American rail in more than 50 years.
“Today’s investments in our rail systems reflect the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to building a stronger, safer, and more resilient transportation network,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re funding rail infrastructure projects that create jobs and expand workforce development, reduce costs for consumers, and directly benefit communities across the country. Each project advances a future where our supply chains are stronger, passenger rail more accessible, and freight movement safer and more efficient.”
While the majority of CRISI grants directly improve rail infrastructure, CRISI investments are also supporting the rail workforce and investing in the hardworking Americans who will help maintain and operate the Nation’s rail networks well into the future. Federal funding will create new apprenticeship programs, expand training opportunities, establish partnerships with universities, and advance innovative research. For example, one grant awarded to the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen will help develop an effective strategy for integrating wayside hot box detectors to enhance safety and proactively address derailments caused by wheel and bearing failures.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration and through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, FRA is investing more than ever in communities nationwide, reversing a half-century of federal underinvestment in America’s rail network and delivering the world-class rail our citizens deserve,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. “Today’s CRISI grants will enhance rail safety, better connect towns, cities, and ports, introduce more environmentally friendly locomotives, support the current rail workforce, and provide workforce development opportunities essential to the future of our industry and the national economy.”
Selected CRISI projects this round include:
- In Illinois, more than $157 million will be invested in the Springfield Rail Improvements Project Final Usable Segment: Phase VIb: North Grand Ave. and IIIc: Multimodal Transportation Center Project, which will consolidate the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern corridors into one multitrack corridor through the city and advance the efforts to provide a higher speed intercity passenger rail connection between St. Louis and Chicago. In addition to track improvements and new grade crossing separations, the project will also construct a Multimodal Transportation Center to better connect public transportation options such as passenger rail, local bus service, and intercity bus service.
- In North Carolina, more than $105.5 million will be invested in the North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR) Carolinian and Piedmont Passenger and Freight Improvements Project, to improve the capacity of the NCRR’s NC-Line to meet the growing demands of both freight and passenger rail traffic. Upgrades would add over five miles of sidings, reconstruct up to 69 miles of track, eliminate one grade crossing, and improve track geometry. The project will increase on-time performance for existing Amtrak routes, allow for additional passenger trains along the growing corridor, and meet the needs of a growing manufacturing sector.
- In partnership with Amtrak, more than $14 million will help implement a 36-month Mechanical Craft Workforce Development Apprenticeship Training Program to build a skilled mechanical craft workforce for Amtrak to maintain its fleet of equipment. The project will improve safety and service performance by providing Amtrak job opportunities and career paths in various mechanical crafts that are essential to maintaining service and improving efficiency. The apprenticeship program is a collaboration between Amtrak and several labor unions, with programs being offered in Beech Grove, Indiana; Wilmington, Delaware; Washington, DC; New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California.
- In Georgia, more than $26.5 million will be invested in Colonel’s Island Rail Improvements Project. The project, in partnership with the Georgia Ports Authority, will improve the Myd Harris Yard and construct a new South Side Rail Yard at the Colonel’s Island Terminal in Brunswick, GA, creating new opportunities to move automotive shipments by rail instead of truck. Specifically, for the South Side Rail Yard, the project will construct four new yard tracks, estimated at approximately 23,735 feet of track, and construct south side auto storage area and a perimeter road, as well as grade separate an existing crossing. Additionally, the project will lengthen and reconfigure tracks at the existing Myd Harris Yard to improve operational efficiency and bring rail switching activities inside the terminal and away from the adjacent neighborhood.
- In Arizona, more than $21.6 million will be invested in the Eastern Arizona Rail Safety, Efficiency, and Resiliency Project, which rehabilitates approximately 34 miles of track, replaces three aging timber bridges, installs two emergency crossings, cuts brush within rights-of-way, and retrofits two tank cars for firefighting. The project will address infrastructure vulnerabilities in a location with a history of wildfires.
- In Michigan, more than $67 million will be invested in Detroit RECHARGED – Realizing Environmental Changes Happening Around Railroads Generating Equitable Development, which will improve and expand the Livernois Intermodal Facility by installing approximately 17,200 feet of new track and upgrading paving as well replacing diesel gantry cranes with new hybrid and fully electric gantry cranes in Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan. The project will benefit local business owners and surrounding residents by improving service performance, enhancing multimodal connections, and reducing negative environmental impacts.
In addition to deploying historic funding to modernize and upgrade rail infrastructure, USDOT and FRA have taken unprecedented actions under the Biden-Harris Administration to improve rail safety. This includes finalizing new safety regulations, conducting focused safety audits, expanding a vital safety program to include workers at Class I freight railroads, and pushing freight railroads to provide guaranteed paid sick leave to all of their workers.
The full list of Fiscal Year 2023 and 2024 CRISI project selections can be found here . Additional information on FRA’s CRISI Program is also available here .