U.S. Department of Transportation announces $8.2B for 10 new, existing passenger rail corridors

Following up a $16.4 billion investment last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration is doubling down on passenger rail with another $8.2 billion investment announced Friday. The funding is expected to go toward 10 passenger rail projects across the country while sparking future corridor planning.

“With this funding, we’ll deliver America’s first high-speed rail on a route between Southern California and Las Vegas, complete major upgrades for riders in Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maine, Montana, and Alaska, and announce a comprehensive plan that makes it easier to expand passenger rail lines in 44 states,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a statement. The $8.2 billion brings the total investment in the nation’s rail system to $30 billion in the last three years.

The funding will be used to build high-speed rail service in California’s Central Valley, and a new high-speed rail corridor between Las Vegas and southern California, serving an estimated 11 million passengers annually. It will also be used to upgrade existing conventional corridors, and to better connect northern Virginia and the southeast with the northeast corridor. Pennsylvania’s Keystone Corridor, whcih connects Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, will be expanded, and the Piedmont Corridor in North Carolina will be extended to connect Raleigh and Richmond, Va. Service in Maine, Montana and Alaska will also be improved, and Chicago’s Union Station will receive updates as an initial step toward future improvements to the critical midwest corridor hub, the statement says.

In conjunction with the immediate investment, Federal Railroad Administration announced 69 corridor selections across 44 states through the Corridor Identification and Development Program, which was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is designed to drive future passenger rail expansion.

Pipeline selections for future invesment include section of rail from Scranton to New York, reviving a dormant rail corridor between Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York; a new rail corridor connecting Fort Collins and Pueblo, Colo.; The Northern Lights Express connecting Minneapolis, Minn. and Duluth, Minn., with several stops in Wisconsin; a proposed new high-speed rail corridor linking Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver; and a new high-speed rail corridor linking the southeast and providing connection to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Georgia, the busiest airport in the world.

The inaugural round of selections is aimed at upgrading 15 existing rail routes, adding or extending service on 47 new routes, and advancing seven new high-speed rail projects, the statemetn says. FRA will work closely with states, transportation agencies, host and operating railroads, and local governments to quickly develop and build passenger rail projects.

“President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law gave us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to think smart and think big about the future of rail in America, and we are taking full advantage of the resources we have to advance world-class passenger rail services nationwide,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose in the statement. “Today’s announcement is another step forward as we advance transformative projects that will carry Americans for decades to come and provide them with convenient, climate-friendly alternatives to congested roads and airports. We’re thinking about the future too with comprehensive and systematic planning efforts to transform the U.S. intercity passenger rail network now and in the years to come.”