FRA 08-23

September 25, 2023

Contact: FRA Public Affairs

Tel.: (202) 493-6024 

FRAPA@DOT.gov

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $1.4 Billion in Infrastructure Funding for 

70 Projects That Will Improve Rail Safety, Strengthen Supply Chains, and Add 

Passenger Rail Service

One historic project will help restore passenger rail service to the Gulf Coast for the first time in nearly 

two decades

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) of the U.S. Department of 

Transportation (USDOT) announced today that it has invested more than $1.4 billion from President 

Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law into 70 rail improvement projects in 35 states and Washington,

D.C. This is the largest amount ever awarded for rail safety and rail supply chain upgrades through the

Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. 

As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, federal investments are tackling longstanding rail needs by supporting communities nationwide to help get people and goods where they need 

to be safely, quickly, and conveniently. Projects selected through the CRISI program, which is four 

times larger since President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, support community safety 

through track improvements, bridge rehabilitations, fewer highway-rail grade crossings, upgrades on 

routes carrying hazardous materials, and more. Selected projects also improve connectivity, reduce 

shipping costs, increase resiliency to extreme weather, reduce emissions, and support workforce 

development.

“Under President Biden's leadership, we are making historic investments in rail, which means fewer 

accidents and delays, faster travel times, and lower shipping costs for the American people,” said 

USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “These projects will make American rail safer, more reliable, and 

more resilient, delivering tangible benefits to dozens of communities where railroads are located, and 

strengthening supply chains for the entire country.” 

“For years, the CRISI Program has helped to maintain and modernize America’s freight rail network, 

and it’s the only federal grant program prioritizing smaller, short line railroads vital to our nation’s

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economy and regional supply chains. With unprecedented levels of funding through President Biden’s 

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, FRA is advancing even more projects and laying the groundwork for 

further transformation,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. “The selected projects will tackle issues 

facing communities and invest in a 21st century rail network yielding greater benefits – faster and more 

reliable deliveries of goods, safer communities, cleaner transportation, and more jobs and workforce 

development opportunities.” 

Projects will benefit every region of the country, with nearly two-thirds of CRISI funding flowing to

rural communities.

• In Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, more than $178.4 million in federal funding is going to 

Amtrak, in partnership with the Southern Rail Commission, for the Gulf Coast Corridor 

Improvement Project, which will restore passenger service in a region that has not had access 

to it since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Investments will make several track and signal-related 

improvements, grade crossing upgrades, and station improvements to add two new daily round 

trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. While expanding passenger service, the 

project will also help maintain reliable freight operations along a line used by CSX 

Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway and benefit the Port of Mobile.

• In eastern Washington State, more than $72.8 million will make several track-related 

improvements, upgrade grade crossings, and enhance infrastructure on the Palouse River & 

Coulee City Railroad (PCC) through the Rural Rail Rehabilitation Phase II Project. The 

project is part of a multi-phase effort to improve the PCC, which is vital to the wheat supply 

chain. Investments will allow the line to carry modern 286,000-pound railcars, increase speeds, 

and protect against the effects of severe storms and washouts. 

• In Tennessee, the Tennessee Short Line Railroads Bridge Bundle Project will put more than 

$23.7 million to work upgrading approximately 42 bridges along 10 different short line railroads 

in need of immediate, extensive repair or replacement. The impacted bridges are located 

throughout the state, and their upgrades will strengthen the short line rail network and improve 

operational efficiency.

• In Kentucky, more than $29.5 million in federal funding will make improvements along Paducah 

and Louisville Railway’s 280-mile main line, including upgrading multiple bridges, 

rehabilitating locomotives, and improving track in a local rail yard through the Foster Economic 

Sustainability Throughout Kentucky Project. This project will help reduce delays and 

increase safety and resiliency on a vital freight rail line that contributes to economic activity 

across 18 rural cities and urban clusters. 

• In Nebraska, more than $15.2 million will modernize the Cornhusker Railroad, improving track, 

grade crossings, and a railcar repair facility through the Cornhusker Railroad Regional 

Connectivity Project. Investments will result in safer and more efficient operations, including 

improved interchanging of regional trains with Class I railroads.

• In Maryland, more than $11.5 million will bring the first-ever zero-exhaust emissions 

locomotives to an east coast port through the Port of Baltimore Strategic Acquisition of 
Battery Electric Locomotives Project. In total, three older, higher-emission locomotives will 

be replaced with new battery electric locomotives and a battery charger at the Port of Baltimore, 

benefiting shippers, port employees, and nearby communities by decreasing air emissions and 

noise. CSX Transportation will use the battery electric locomotives in its Curtis Bay Piers 

terminal. 

• In Ohio, more than $16.2 million in federal investments will rehabilitate bridges and make 

several track-related improvements along approximately 180 miles of the Kanawha River 

Railroad (KNWA) through the North Central Appalachia Rail Enhancement and Rail 

Corridor Preservation Project. The project will allow for increased speeds while improving 

safety, reliability, and capacity on a rail line that moves needed goods, including chemicals and 

hazardous materials, in rural areas of West Virginia and Ohio. 

While the majority of selected projects support freight rail safety and supply chains, CRISI investments 

are also helping to expand world-class passenger rail to more communities nationwide. Investments in

Virginia will result in two new Amtrak round trips and three new commuter rail round trips on the 

RF&P corridor between Washington, D.C., and Richmond – a critical link between Northeast and 

Southeast states – while also improving the fluidity of CSX’s freight network. In California, two 

additional daily round trips will be added to the Capitol Corridor between the cities of Sacramento and 

Roseville, and a project eliminating grade crossings in the Central Valley will bring high-speed rail one 

step closer to becoming a reality.

For the full list of Fiscal Year 2022 CRISI project selections, please click here. Further information 

about the many benefits of FRA’s CRISI Program is also available here.

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