The federal government is doling out $2.4 billion for 122 rail projects across the country

OMAHA, born – The federal government is handing out $2.4 billion in rail grants to help pay for 122 projects nationwide, with more than half of the money going to smaller railroads.

The subsidies announced On Tuesday, the Federal Railroad Administration will visit projects in 41 states and Washington, DC. Most of the money will go toward track and bridge upgrades. But some of the grants will be used to strengthen training and explore cleaner alternatives to the diesel railroads that railroads have long relied on. Some small railroads will also receive help upgrading to more efficient locomotives.

A large part of the money comes from the Infrastructure Act 2021 that President Joe Biden advocated. Last year the board distributed $1.4 billion in these railroad subsidies.

“Each project contributes to a future where our supply chains are stronger, passenger rail more accessible, and freight traffic safer and more efficient,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

Some of the subsidies will also help tackle this problem concerns about railway safety that have become common since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023 and spilled a cocktail of dangerous chemicals that caught fire. Regulators have urged railroads to improve safety, and the industry has stepped up a number of initiatives on itself. But bigger changes that lawmakers proposed after the disastrous derailment have been implemented stuck in Congress And little progress was made in the current election year.

The largest project is a $215 million grant that will help pay for the replacement of a Hudson River bridge that CSX owns between Albany and Rensselaer, New York, on which Amtrak relies heavily. The state will pay the remaining 60% of the $634.8 million cost of the project, which will allow two trains and pedestrians to cross the river at the same time. Currently, approximately twelve Amtrak trains and several freight trains pass the bridge, built in 1901, every day.

In Illinois, nearly $160 million will be spent consolidating Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern tracks through Springfield and paving the way for a higher-speed rail link between Chicago and St. Louis.

One grant worth up to $100 million will help strengthen the rail lines Amtrak uses against threats related to climate change and improve the reliability of rail lines in Southern California’s Orange County.

Several grants, including one worth more than $48 million, will go toward developing hydrogen locomotives that could one day help the rail industry dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Other grants include $67 million to expand an intermodal rail yard in Michigan, where shipping containers are moved between trains and trucks. Nearly $73 million will go toward improving Milwaukee’s Muskego rail yard.

But the bulk of the money — nearly $1.3 billion — will go to 81 projects on smaller short-gauge lines across the country. Chuck Baker, president of the trade group American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, said the grants will significantly help these smaller railroads.

“Congress and the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) can be confident that short lines will put these public dollars to good use, provide new and efficient ways to serve customers, and connect small towns and rural America to U.S. and international markets ” said Baker.