The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced Friday it had awarded $8.2 billion in grants for high-speed rail projects.
The grants will fund 10 passenger rail projects across the country, officials said. Funded by the Federal State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (Fed-State National) program, the grants are designed to advance high-speed rail corridors and fund improvements to existing rail corridors that will expand service and performance. Officials said the grants fund projects delivering high-speed rail service in California’s Central Valley, creating a new high-speed rail corridor between Las Vegas and southern California, making major upgrades to existing rail corridors between Northern Virginia and the Southeast through the Northeast Corridor, and investing in Chicago Union Station as a step toward future investment into the Midwest corridors hub, among others.
“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration takes another historic step to deliver the passenger rail system that Americans have been calling for – with $8.2 billion for faster, more reliable, expanded train service across the country,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “With this funding, we’ll deliver America’s first high-speed rail on a route between Southern California and Las Vegas, complete major upgrades for riders in Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maine, Montana, and Alaska, and announce a comprehensive plan that makes it easier to expand passenger rail lines in 44 states.”
FRA also announced 69 corridor selections across 44 states, part of the Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) program, that will drive future passenger rail expansion. The Corridor ID program guides intercity passenger rail development throughout the country, and helps states, transportation agencies, host and operating railroads, and local government develop and build passenger rail projects faster.
“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. “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. We’re thinking about the future too with comprehensive and systematic planning efforts to transform the U.S. intercity passenger rail network now and in the years to come.”