FRA Awards $1.4B for Rail Infrastructure

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) invested more than $1.4 billion from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law into 70 rail improvement projects in 35 states and Washington, D.C.

The funding is the largest amount ever awarded for rail safety and rail supply chain upgrades through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program.

Investing in America

As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, federal investments are tackling long-standing rail needs by supporting communities nationwide to help get people and goods where they need to be safely, quickly, and conveniently.

Projects selected through the CRISI program, which is four times larger since President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, support community safety through track improvements, bridge rehabilitations, fewer highway-rail grade crossings, upgrades on routes carrying hazardous materials, and more. Selected projects also improve connectivity, reduce shipping costs, increase resiliency to extreme weather, reduce emissions, and support workforce development.

“The selected projects will tackle issues facing communities and invest in a 21st century rail network yielding greater benefits — faster and more reliable deliveries of goods, safer communities, cleaner transportation, and more jobs and workforce development opportunities,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose.

Projects Being Funded

While the majority of selected projects support freight rail safety and supply chains, CRISI investments are also helping to expand world-class passenger rail to more communities nationwide.

Investments in Virginia will result in two new Amtrak round trips and three new commuter rail round trips on the RF&P corridor between Washington, D.C., and Richmond — a critical link between Northeast and Southeast states — while also improving the fluidity of CSX’s freight network.

In California, two additional daily round trips will be added to the Capitol Corridor between the cities of Sacramento and Roseville, and a project eliminating grade crossings in the Central Valley will bring high-speed rail one step closer to becoming a reality.

For the full list of Fiscal Year 2022 CRISI project selections, click here.