October 3, 2022

RAIL

MOVING AMERICA FORWARD

Wynne Davis, Office of Regional Outreach and Project Delivery

Peter Schwartz, Office of Railroad Planning and Engineering

Corridor Identification and Development Program—

Solicitation Preview 

September 27, 2022
2

Presentation Overview 

• Corridor ID Introduction 

• Significant Program Policies

• Program Eligibility and Reach

• Why Pursue Corridor ID?

• Corridor ID Funding and Structure

• Application Requirements

• Eligibility & Selection 

• Questions 
3

Corridor ID Timeline

November 15, 2021

Enactment of the BIL

01 02

May 13, 2022

FRA established the Corridor 

ID Program within 180 days of 

enactment

04

May 13, 2023

First Congressional 

report on the Project 

Pipeline due one year 

following Program 

establishment

December 2022

FRA to publish a Notice of 

Corridor Solicitation and 

Funding Opportunity for the 

Corridor Identification and 

Development Program

03

September 2022

AASHTO CORT Conference

Opportunity to communicate 

and solicit feedback from 

program stakeholders; 

Webinar for broader 

audience week of 9/26
4

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Rail Development Goals

Renew Amtrak’s fleet & 

facilities and deliver highquality intercity passenger 

rail service

Modernize the 

Northeast Corridor

Bring world-class passenger 

rail service to regions across 

the country

Build the foundation for a 

long-term rail program

Grow a safer, 

cleaner, more 

equitable rail 

system
5

Bring world-class 

passenger rail 

service to regions 

across the country

Build the 

foundation for a 

long-term rail 

program

Grow a safer, 

cleaner, more 

equitable rail 

system

Corridor ID Program Overview

Corridor ID creates a foundational framework for identifying 

and developing new or improved intercity passenger rail (IPR) 

services. Under the program, FRA will: 

Solicit proposals for 

implementing new or 

improving existing IPR 

services 

Select corridors for 

development

Partner with corridor 

sponsor to prepare 

(or update) a Service 

Development Plan (SDP) 

SDP includes a 

“corridor project 

inventory”

Corridor project 

inventories populate 

a prioritized “pipeline” 

of projects

Projects in the Corridor 

ID Pipeline prioritized 

for funding under 

FRA’s financial 

assistance programs
6

Corridor ID Program 

Fed State Partnership / Other Federal Funding Programs 

Restoration & 

Enhancement 

Program

Project 

Development

Project 

Planning Final Design Construction Operation 

Development Stages Implementation Stages 

Systems 

Planning 

Regional Rail Plans & 

State Rail Plans*

*Regional Rail Planning and State Rail Plans may be funded through other FRA funding programs. 

FRA Project Lifecycle Stages – Corresponding FRA Funding Programs 
7

Establishing the Program – Significant Policy Positions

Corridor ID will be the 

primary mechanism 

for developing offNortheast Corridor 

intercity passenger 

rail corridors and 

projects for 

subsequent 

implementation

Corridor ID is a home 

for all types of 

Intercity Passenger 

Rail corridors—new, 

significant 

improvements, and 

modest 

improvements to 

existing service are all 

welcome

Corridor ID will 

regularly solicit 

proposals for 

additional corridors 

to enter the 

program—this is not 

a one-time 

opportunity 

Level of non-Federal 

commitment may be 

modest at the 

beginning but must 

grow as a corridor 

advances through the 

Program

Corridors/Projects 

that advance to the 

Project Pipeline 

should be ready for 

immediate 

implementation

(Final Design/ 

Construction)
8

Applicant Eligibility 

Nearly any public entity with a role in transportation...

• Regional passenger rail 

authorities

• Regional planning 

organizations

• Political subdivisions of a State

• Federally recognized Indian 

Tribes

• Amtrak

• States

• Groups of States

• Entities implementing 

interstate compacts
9

Corridor Eligibility 

Eligible Corridors 

• Short-distance (<750 miles) IPR services

• Restoring service over any route 

formerly operated by Amtrak

• Increasing frequencies of long-distance 

service (will be analyzed as part of the 

FRA-led Long-Distance Study)

Ineligible Corridors 

• Commuter rail

• Increments of an IPR corridor that if 

advanced alone, would not meet the 

definition of a stand-alone IPR corridor 

• Technology that is under development 

but not yet proven 
10

What Kind of Corridor Proposals Could Have a Home in Corridor ID?

New Service 

New Rail 

Line 

New Service 

Existing Rail 

Line 

Extensions Increased 

Frequencies 

Significant 

Trip Time 

Reduction 

Existing 

Service 

Entirely New Service

Significant 

Improvement 

Existing Service 

Incremental 

Improvement 

Existing Service 
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Level of Effort

New Service 

New Rail 

Line 

New Service 

Existing Rail 

Line 

Extensions Increased 

Frequencies 

Significant 

Trip Time 

Reduction 

Existing 

Service 

Level of Effort 

High High 

Medium Medium 

Medium 

Low
12

FRA will Consider Work Undertaken to Date 

Corridor A Corridor C Corridor F

Project 

Development

Project 

Planning Final Design Construction Operation 

Corridor may have little to no development work completed

Corridor may have on-going FRA funded development efforts 

May have completed FRA-funded efforts / environmental review

May have development efforts independent from FRA 

Existing corridors are already under operation 

Corridor E

Corridor D

FRA will meet you 

where you are in 

the project 

development 

lifecycle 

Corridor B

A

B

C

D & E

F
13

Why Corridor ID? 

Funding for next stages of 

development 

Relationship with FRA Get on the map Preliminary narrowing of 

corridor alternatives 

pre-NEPA
14

Corridor ID Funding—Development Stages 

Project 

Development

Step 3

Project Planning 

Step 2: Service 

Development 

Planning 

Project Planning 

Step 1: SDP Scoping & 

Program Initiation 

Submission 

of Corridor 

Proposal 

Expression 

of Interest 

• Sponsor creates the capacity 

necessary to undertake the 

service planning effort

• Sponsor develops scope, 

schedule, and budget for 

planning effort

Development Stages

Key Activities

Binding 

Commitment 

• Submit 

expression 

of interest 

to docket

• Submit 

corridor 

proposal in 

response to 

upcoming 

solicitation

None None 

Funding None None 

• Sponsor, in 

collaboration with 

FRA, prepares service 

development plan for 

corridor 

Delivery of scope and cost 

estimate for SDP

~$500k “seed money,”

0% match 

(Unspent funds carry forward)

Completion of SDP, 

approved by FRA 

$XX determined through 

scoping effort, 

10% match 

For a Phase of Implementing 

Corridor

• Sponsor completes 

environmental review

• Sponsor completes PE

$XX determined 

through SDP, 

20% match 

Completion of PE / 

NEPA for phase 

Prerequisites None None • Selection of Corridor • Completion of Step 1

• Completion of Step 2

• Phase likely to be implemented

• Phase likely to benefit IPR 

Service
15

Corridor Proposals

Characteristics of the Corridor 

Readiness to enter the 

Program

Statutory and Other 

Evaluation and Selection 

Criteria 

FRA will NOT require 

service development 

planning outputs as 

part of the corridor 

proposal
16

Scaling of Corridor Proposal 

• Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that encompass the full scope of their 

interest

• FRA will engage the corridor sponsor to jointly determine what to advance into the 

program 

• Potential elements for discussion:

Need to focus on 

narrower selection or 

combine corridors

Geographic scope too 

broad or too narrow 

Service characteristics 

too ambitious or not 

ambitious enough 

Scope of improvements 

too ambitious or not 

ambitious enough 
17

Outreach 

• FRA will conduct outreach with potential sponsors and other interested parties who 

submitted Expressions of Interest in response to the May 13 Federal Register Notice

• FRA will also meet with current corridor sponsors that have not yet submitted 

Expressions of Interest 

• Outreach focused on dialogue between FRA and sponsors on Corridor ID program

• In Q4, FRA will conduct a webinar related to applications for Corridor ID 
Contact Us

Federal Railroad Administration

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

Connect with us USDOTFRA

Peter Schwartz

Acting Director 

Office of Railroad Planning & 

Engineering

Wynne Davis

Deputy Director for Regional 

Outreach 

Office of Regional Outreach & 

Project Delivery

PaxRailDev@dot.gov