More than $302 million in federal grant money is headed to local, state, and regional agencies to repair and rehabilitate the railroad infrastructure in nine states, officials announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration said it will fund 12 projects across the country using money from the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program (Partnership Program) funds. The program funds capital projects to repair, replace, or rehabilitate publicly owned-or Amtrak owned or controlled assets to reduce the repair backlog and improve intercity rail performance.
“This $302.6 million federal investment will upgrade rail infrastructure and enhance safety on the tracks and at railroad crossings in rural and urban communities across America,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao.
The projects account for 76 percent of the $396 million in grants available as part of the 2019 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The remaining $93.4 million will be part of the FY 2020 Partnership Program funding.
“This funding will go a long way in addressing passenger rail capital project needs in communities around the country,” said FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory.
Funded projects include more than $91 million for Amtrak and the New Jersey Transit Corporation for the Portal North Bridge Project to replace the more than 100-year-old Portal Bridge, and to reconstruct Substation 41, an Amtrak-owned electrical facility in Kearny, N.J., that powers the Northeast Corridor main line services in northern New Jersey into Penn Station, NY.
Other projects include $80 million to the North Carolina Department of Transportation for six new locomotives and 13 passenger coaches to replace 30- to 50-year-old state-owned equipment that serves Amtrak’s Piedmont service between Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., and $6.75 million for the Southern California Regional Rail Authority to rehabilitate four bridges where the rail line crosses the Arroyo Simi Channel.