Drew Feeley (above), deputy administrator for the Federal Railroad Administration, outlined some of his agency’s key goals for the year at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2026 Council on Rail Transportation Winter Legislative Meeting in Crystal City, VA.
[Above photo by AASHTO]
“For us, it is going to be a busy year – especially if [surface transportation] reauthorization gets done in September,” he said. “We are continuing to align our agency with the goals of Secretary [Sean] Duffy [of the U.S. Department of Transportation] and President Trump. And while we are waiting to see what happens with reauthorization in the House [of Representatives] and Senate, it sounds like they are moving forward and firing on all cylinders. I expect it is going to be an aggressive year ahead so we’ll be looking at what we want to build.”
Feeley said his agency is also focused on improving efficiency both for its programs and for the rail services under its jurisdiction.
For example, he said FRA has streamlined the application for its Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements or CRISI program to under 40 pages.
“We are also continuing our work to deregulate – we conducted 57 deregulatory actions last year and we have another big [deregulatory] sprint coming up,” Feeley noted. “Many of those [deregulation] items are not major things but they are meaningful; they will make things a little easier in the industry.”
FRA is also looking to build on an interim rule issued jointly with the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration in July 2025 regarding the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA.
“We are actively trying to get something out with a notice of proposed rulemaking by the end of the fiscal year,” Feeley said.
“Additionally, we are aiming for a broader restructuring of Amtrak so it can operate more efficiently,” he noted. “We’re not looking at cutting jobs or routes. Rather, we want to grow it [Amtrak] and we’re looking at ideas to do that.”
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