The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) earlier this month issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Grant Program (Partnership Program).
The notice includes $291.4 million in grant funding. It is the third such NOFO for the Partnership Program to help repair and rehabilitate intercity and passenger railroad assets.
“This Administration has continuously emphasized the importance of investing in the safety and efficiency of our Nation’s rail infrastructure and these federal dollars will help make grade crossings safer and enhance service reliability,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao said in a statement.
The Fiscal Year 2020 Partnership Program and remaining Fiscal Year 2019 funding, which includes $198 million made available by the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, and $93.4 million remaining unawarded from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019, will support capital projects. These will repair, replace or rehabilitate qualified railroad assets to reduce the state of good repair backlog and improve intercity passenger rail performance.
Eligible applications may involve railroad infrastructure, equipment, or facility assets. These may include track, ballast, switches and interlockings, bridges, communication and signal systems, power systems, highway-rail grade crossings, stations, passenger cars, locomotives, maintenance-of-way equipment, and yards, terminal areas, and maintenance shops.
