Feds Announce $5.3 Billion for Safety Upgrades, New Amtrak Train Sets With Money Reclaimed from California

The Federal Railroad Administration is allocating $5.3 billion to rail projects across the U.S. that will enhance safety, upgrade critical infrastructure, and purchase new trainsets for Amtrak.

Roughly $2 billion is funding that Secretary Sean Duffy reclaimed by canceling funding for California’s high-speed train project. The California project saw projected costs explode, with estimates as high as $231 billion – nearly seven times its initial cost.

In total, the $5.3 billion grant package will close more than 30 grade crossings and upgrade over a thousand with new infrastructure and technology, fund the purchase of 43 American-made trainsets to replace Amtrak’s aging fleet in high-demand corridors, and overhaul 41 locomotives currently serving Amtrak’s Midwest and Pacific routes.

Across the country, forty-one projects received awards in 23 states, including:

• $356 million for Florida DOT to perform good repair improvements at up to 910 highway-rail grade crossings across the State
• $2.5 million for the City of New Orleans in Louisiana to make critical repairs to 70-year-old platforms and canopies at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
• $1.1 million for the City of Crete in Nebraska to examine eight existing at-grade crossings to determine what future infrastructure improvements might be needed
• $299 million for the North Carolina DOT to eliminate nine grade crossings, install double-track segments, and engage in trespassing prevention efforts
• $40 million for the City of Fairfield in Ohio to close two at-grade rail crossings and create a new bridge over a section of the CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision.
• $189 million for the Texas DOT to eliminate nine crossings within the cities of Fort Worth, Dallas, and Terrell, Texas, and an additional $39 million for Hays County, Texas, to construct a grade-separated bridge.

Amtrak-specific investments include $2.05 billion to acquire 43 Made-in-America trainsets to replace Amtrak’s aging fleet and $140 million to overhaul 41 locomotives currently serving Amtrak’s Midwest and Pacific routes.

The Amtrak lines receiving new trainsets include the Adirondack, Blue Water, Carolinian, Cascades, D.C. to Newport News, D.C. to Norfolk, D.C. to Roanoke, Downeaster, Empire, Ethan Allen, Hartford Line, Hiawatha, Illini/Saluki, Illinois Zephyr, Keystone, Lincoln, Pennsylvanian, Pere Marquette, Piedmont, River Runner, and Wolverine routes.