FRA 20-22

December 22, 2022

Contact: FRA Public Affairs

Tel.: (202) 493-6024 

FRAPA@DOT.gov

Biden-Harris Administration, USDOT Make Available Nearly $9 Billion to 

Modernize Busiest Passenger Rail Corridor in America 

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding will improve the reliability and quality of service along the 

Northeast Corridor, benefiting millions of riders and travelers who depend on daily service

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) today announced a Notice of 

Funding Opportunity (NOFO) making available nearly $9 billion in funding to upgrade and expand 

passenger rail services along the Northeast Corridor (NEC). These funds will be issued through the 

Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program (Partnership Program), which grew 

to $36 billion over the next five years thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Today’s investment will fund projects of national and regional significance, improving infrastructure, 

equipment, and facilities, including bridges and tunnels, rail stations, and track. This investment will 

help improve reliability and result in fewer delays for the over 200 million annual trips taken by 

commuters and intercity passenger riders on the Northeast Corridor. 

"Every day, hundreds of thousands of Americans rely on the Northeast Corridor, our country's busiest 

rail route," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Americans deserve to have the best 

rail system in the world, and the investments we are announcing today will serve to modernize the 

Northeast Corridor for generations of passengers."  

The Northeast Corridor, stretching from Washington, D.C. to Boston, is one of the highest-volume rail 

lines in the world. The area it spans accounts for 20 percent of our nation's GDP. The number of 

Americans utilizing the corridor continues to grow, approaching pre-pandemic levels, with Amtrak 

ridership alone more than doubling in the last 12 months to 9.2 million passengers annually. 

Administered by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Partnership Program is a competitive 

discretionary grant program that has supported the rehabilitation and renewal of intercity passenger rail 

infrastructure for years. Most recently, the program advanced project development and construction for

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major bridge replacement projects, including the Susquehanna River Bridge in Maryland, the 

Connecticut River Bridge, and the Portal Bridge in New Jersey. 

The NEC Project Inventory, which FRA issued in November, will guide investments under the 

Partnership Program and promote a transparent, systematic, long-term strategy for growing the NEC. It 

prioritizes key projects for funding, such as the repair and modernization of major bridges and tunnels –

all of which are over a century old – which include the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel in Maryland, the 

Walk Bridge in Connecticut, and the Hudson Tunnel in New Jersey, part of the Gateway Program. 

“Today’s investments are a major step towards reversing a half-century of underinvestment in vital rail 

infrastructure and will result in fewer delays for millions of riders and travelers,” said FRA 

Administrator Amit Bose. “The expanded Partnership Program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure

Law will ensure that the Northeast Corridor thrives as the region’s economic and transportation 

backbone, while making its services more reliable, available, and accessible to even more people.” 

Earlier this month, FRA also made nearly $2.3 billion available through the Partnership Program for 

intercity and high-speed rail projects nationwide. Taken together, more than $11 billion in passenger rail 

funds have been made available in the first round of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

The NEC Partnership Program NOFO will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, December 

27. You can view the NOFO as submitted to the Federal Register here. Applications are due no later 

than 90 days after the publication date in the Federal Register, and FRA will provide technical 

assistance to potential applicants prior to the deadline. More information about the Partnership Program 

can be found here. 

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