The federal government is providing $2.4 billion for 122 rail projects across the country

OMAHA, Neb. – The federal government is providing $2.4 billion in rail grants to help pay for 122 projects across the country, with more than half going to smaller railroads.

The grants announced Tuesday by the Federal Railroad Administration will be earmarked for projects in 41 states and Washington, D.C. Most of the money will be spent on modernizing tracks and bridges. But part of the grant will be used to strengthen training and explore cleaner alternatives to diesel rail, which the railroad has long relied on. Some small railways will also receive help to modernize their locomotives.

Most of the money comes from the so-called Infrastructure law 2021 championed by President Joe Biden. Last year the administration dealt Rail subsidies will total $1.4 billion.

“Every project is a future where our supply chains are stronger, passenger rail more accessible, and freight traffic safer and more efficient,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

Some grants will also help solve this problem rail safety concerns which have become common since south Norfolk the train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023 and spilled a cocktail of dangerous chemicals that caught fire. Regulators have urged railroads to improve safety, and the industry has acted a number of initiatives independently. But bigger changes lawmakers have proposed after the disastrous derailment stuck in Congress AND little progress was made in the current election year.

The largest single project is a $215 million grant that will help cover the cost of replacing the CSX-owned Hudson River Bridge between Albany and Rensselaer, New York, on which Amtrak relies heavily. The state is covering the remaining 60% of the $634.8 million project cost, which will allow two trains and pedestrians to cross the river at the same time. Currently, about 12 Amtrak trains and several freight trains pass over the bridge, built in 1901, every day.

In Illinois, nearly $160 million will go toward consolidating Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern tracks through Springfield and helping clear the way for faster rail service between Chicago and St. Louis.

One grant worth up to $100 million will help strengthen tracks used by Amtrak against climate change threats and improve track reliability in Southern California’s Orange County.

Several grants, including one worth more than $48 million, will go toward the development of hydrogen-powered locomotives, which could one day help the rail industry drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Other grants include $67 million to expand intermodal rail in Michigan, where containers are moved between trains and trucks. Nearly $73 million will go toward improving Milwaukee’s Muskego Railroad.

But most of the money – almost $1.3 billion – will go to 81 projects on smaller short-line rail lines across the country. Chuck Baker, president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association trade group, said the grants would significantly help smaller railroads.

“Congress and the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) can be confident that short lines will put these public dollars to good use, providing new and efficient ways to serve customers, connecting America’s small towns and rural areas to U.S. and international markets,” Baker said.