The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced more than $2.4 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for 122 rail improvement projects in 41 states and Washington, D.C. 

The 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.

CRISI Program Funding

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.

Continued BIL Funding

The 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, marking the most significant investment in American rail in more than 50 years.

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.

“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,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose.

CRISI Projects Awarded

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 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, Ind.; Wilmington, Del.; Washington, DC; New York; Chicago; and Los Angeles. 

• 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, Mich. 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.