USA: The Federal Railroad Administration is putting $5.3 billion behind new Amtrak trainsets, a rebuilt Midwest maintenance base and hundreds of dangerous grade crossings — the largest single passenger-rail funding round of the year, spread across 23 states.

Amtrak Midwest Lincoln Service train leaving Chicago with a Siemens SC-44 Charger locomotive.
Amtrak Midwest Lincoln Service train heading toward St. Louis after leaving Chicago. Illustrative photo. Photo: Amy Lohrke, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the awards on Aug. 14 at Cincinnati Union Terminal, flanked by FRA Administrator David Fink and Amtrak Interim President Byl Herrmann. The money flows through the National Railroad Partnership Program (NRPP), and roughly $2 billion of it became available after USDOT cancelled federal funding previously earmarked for California’s high-speed rail project.

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Amtrak’s share: new trains, a rebuilt depot, overhauled locomotives

Amtrak alone is receiving nearly $3 billion across seven projects. The single largest piece is $2.05 billion for 43 new US-built trainsets, intended for routes including the Adirondack, Cascades, Hiawatha, Keystone and Wolverine. A separate $572 million will fund a new Chicago-area maintenance facility, and $140.6 million is earmarked to overhaul 41 Siemens Charger locomotives currently running on Midwest and Pacific routes — equipment operators have flagged as troubled.

Two smaller Amtrak projects add track capacity rather than equipment: a South Carolina program with CSX will replace 31 miles of worn track and add 3,500 feet of bypass track near Florence, while a Montana project with BNSF will lay six miles of new mainline track near Havre to ease a passenger-freight bottleneck.

Grade crossings take priority nationwide

The remaining money funds 41 separate projects, most aimed at eliminating or upgrading grade crossings that FRA says account for more than 2,000 incidents and 200 deaths a year nationally. Florida’s DOT received $356 million for upgrades at up to 910 crossings statewide; North Carolina got $299 million to eliminate nine crossings and add double track. Station work is also included: $48.1 million for a new Downeaster station in Portland, Maine, and $15.5 million for Virginia Passenger Rail Authority improvements in Staunton, Va.

FRA says it prioritized crossings with a documented history of three or more incidents, or at least two fatal incidents, in the past five years. “FRA also collaborated with Amtrak over two years to determine how best to distribute these funds so passenger trains can run on time and freight isn’t delayed,” Fink said.

What the numbers don’t yet answer

FRA received 103 eligible applications worth a combined $11.66 billion — meaning the $5.3 billion awarded covers less than half of what states and operators requested. The agency has not said when a second round might open, or how the roughly 60 unfunded applications will be treated going forward.

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