by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:30 AM ET, Tue September 26, 2023
Amtrak announced that the rail company and its partners were
awarded nearly $200 million from the Federal Railroad Administration’s
Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) competitive
grant program.
The funding will support four projects in the Northeast
Corridor—which travels through eight states and the District of Columbia—and
the Gulf Coast states. Amtrak also submitted additional federal grant
applications to improve the company’s National Network and advance NEC upgrades
through the FRA’s Corridor ID and Fed-State Partnership Programs.
“The CRISI grants announced today will help launch new and
expanded service, advance critical safety and reliability improvements, and
provide opportunities for the workforce, marking another big milestone as we
continue to advance a new era of passenger rail,” Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner
said.
For the Gulf Coast Corridor Improvement Project, Amtrak and
the Southern Rail Commission were awarded up to $178,435,333, which will be
used to launch twice-daily service next year between Mobile and New Orleans.
Along the Northeast Corridor, the $8.8 million grant will
fund a programmatic study and survey to inform future fence installation at
sites vulnerable to and at high risk for unauthorized access.
“I want to thank the Biden Administration, USDOT Secretary
Pete Buttigieg, and FRA Administrator Amit Bose for their commitment towards
improving passenger rail across America,” Gardner continued. “I am grateful for
the partnership Amtrak has with our state, host and commuter partners and our
labor representatives that helped support these grants.”
In addition, Amtrak’s Workforce Development Apprenticeship
Training Program will receive up to $8.8 million, while the Mississippi-Louisiana
Grade Crossing Improvement Project was awarded up to $1,826,000.
In addition, the rail company supported several critical
grants submitted by other entities which received funding, including the Boston
& Albany Line Improvement Project, Franconia-Springfield Bypass Project, MARC
Penn-Camden Line Connector, REDESIGN Alabama and Sacramento to Roseville Third
Track Project.
Earlier this week, United States President Joe Biden and his
administration awarded more than $1.4 billion to the country’s rail industry to
boost
capacity and improve safety. The funding would make around 70 projects in
35 states and Washington, D.C. possible, including track upgrades, bridge
repairs, connectivity among railways and making routes less vulnerable to extreme
weather.
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