FRA Issues $5.3B in Grants to U.S. Rail Projects

August 21, 2026

The Federal Railroad Administration recently issued a total of $5.3 billion worth of grants to 41 rail projects in 23 states; projects that seek to enhance safety, upgrade critical infrastructure, and purchase new trainsets for Amtrak.

[Above image by FRA]

Overall, the agency said that grant funding – issued via its National Railroad Partnership Program – will close over 30 grade crossings and upgrade over a thousand with new infrastructure and technology; provide $2.05 billion to purchase 43 American-made trainsets to replace Amtrak’s aging fleet in high-demand corridors; plus provide $140 million to overhaul 41 locomotives currently serving Amtrak’s Midwest and Pacific routes.

David Fink. Photo by FRA.

FRA said it placed a significant emphasis on targeting “high risk” crossings for closure and replacement, which are those with a documented history of three or more incidents and/or two or more fatal incidents during the last five years. Grade crossings – intersections where roads cross railroad tracks at-grade – represent the second leading cause of rail-related deaths in the U.S., the agency noted, with more than 2,000 incidents and 200 fatalities at grade crossings occurring each year.

“These projects … will help make our nation’s rail network much safer because now state DOTs [state departments of transportation] across America will have the funds they need to eliminate dangerous grade crossings across the nation,” noted David Fink, FRA’s administrator, in a statement.

“FRA also collaborated with Amtrak over a two-year period to determine how best to distribute these funds so passenger trains can run on time and freight isn’t delayed,” he said.

The state DOT projects receiving funds are:

  • The Colorado Department of Transportation received $44 million for its Safe, Agile, Fast, and Efficient Rail or “SAFER” Travel Project, which will provide rockfall mitigation, procure and install six hazmat caches, and perform seven grade crossing diagnostic analyses in the cities of Hot Sulphur Springs, Dotsero, Parachute, Steamboat Springs, Eldora, and Fraser along infrastructure owned by Union Pacific Railroad. Colorado DOT will contribute a 20 percent non-federal funding funding to this wide-ranging project.
  • The Florida Department of Transportation received $356 million for its Statewide Advancement of Feature Enhancements at Intercity Passenger Rail Crossings or “SAFE-IPR” Program, which will improve up to 910 highway-rail grade crossings statewide owned by various public agencies, Class I/II/III railroads, and private passenger rail firm Brightline, with Florida DOT contributing a 20 percent non-federal funding match.
  • The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, a division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, received $139.6 million to fund the Haverhill Double-Track project, which will install two segments of double track, eliminate an at-grade crossing, install high-level platforms and safety fencing at four stations, plus modernize signal systems along a section of MBTA-owned track from Reading to Andover, MA, with the MBTA contributing a 20 percent non-federal funding match. The project will benefit Amtrak’s Downeaster route.
  • The Michigan Department of Transportation received three grants. The first for $28.9 million supports the Michigan Accelerated Rail Bridge Reconstruction to fix four agency-owned bridges along the Michigan Line in Comstock Township, Sandstone Charter Township, and Superior Charter Township, with Michigan DOT contributing a 25 percent non-federal funding match. The second grant for $17.9 million supports the Michigan Line Blackman Road Bridge Replacement project, which will replace the 124-year-old Blackman Road Bridge in Jackson, MI, with a wider structure that can accommodate a potential future second track. Michigan DOT will contribute a 20 percent non-federal funding match to that bridge replacement effort. Finally, the third grant amounting to $98.3 million, supports the Michigan Line Rail Train & Turnout Renewal State of Good Repair effort to make track improvements on Michigan DOT-owned rail infrastructure between Dearborn and Kalamazoo, MI. The agency will contribute a 25 percent non-federal funding match to that effort.
  • The Missouri Department of Transportation received $3.6 million to support the Marceline Subdivision: Three Critical Missouri State Highway Grade Separations project, which supports three future highway-rail grade separations in the towns of Bucklin, La Plata, and Gorin on BNSF-owned infrastructure. MoDOT will contribute a 22 percent non-federal funding match to that project, which may include funding from BNSF.
  • The Nebraska Department of Transportation received $7 million for the California Zephyr Corridor Reliability Improvement project to make track improvements on BNSF-owned infrastructure, which includes the installation of switch heaters, hot air blowers, and turnout replacements. Nebraska DOT will contribute a 20 percent non-federal funding match to this effort, which may include funding from BNSF.
  • The North Carolina Department of Transportation received $300 million to support the Piedmont Corridor Safety Program, which will make a number of grade crossing and track improvements. Nine at-grade crossings on North Carolina Railroad Company-owned infrastructure will be closed. In Guilford County, six at-grade crossings will be closed and two grade separations will be constructed. In Durham County, three at-grade rail crossings will be closed and two grade separations will be constructed. Double track segments and associated infrastructure improvements will be installed in the counties of Guilford, Durham, and Wake as well. The project also includes trespassing prevention efforts along the entire corridor. NCDOT will contribute a 28.53 percent non-federal funding match for this effort. The project will benefit Amtrak’s Carolinian and Piedmont routes.
  • The Ohio Rail Development Commission – an independent entity within the Ohio Department of Transportation – received $40 million for the Symmes Road, Fairfield, Ohio Grade Separation project that will close two at-grade rail crossings, create a new bridge over a section of the CSX Cincinnati Terminal Subdivision, and create approximately 4.5 miles of track for passenger and freight trains traversing over the corridor. The commission will contribute a 20 percent non-federal funding match that may include funding from the City of Fairfield and CSX.
  • The Texas Department of Transportation received $755 million to support 12 critical rail grade separation projects across the state. Those projects include $80.5 million for the Houston Rail Safety and Mobility Project: Sunset Limited Route for two grade separations in Houston on Union Pacific-owned infrastructure, with TxDOT contributing a 20 percent non-federal funding match; a $101.2 million grant to support the FM 3009 and Amtrak Sunset Limited Route Grade Separation project to build a grade separated interchange over Union Pacific-owned infrastructure in Schertz, TX, with TxDOT contributing a 20 percent non-federal funding match; a $385 million grant to support the Sunset Limited Grade Separations project that encompasses a total of seven grade separations in the towns of Cibolo, El Paso, Missouri City, San Antonio, and Sugar Land, with TxDOT contributing a 20 percent non-federal funding match; and $189 million for the Texas Eagle/Heartland Flyer Grade Separations that covers grade separations at three locations to eliminate nine crossings within the cities of Fort Worth, Dallas, and Terrell, TX, on Union Pacific, BNSF, TEXRail, Fort Worth and Western Railroad and Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad infrastructure, with TxDOT contributing a 20 percent non-federal funding match.
  • The Wisconsin Department of Transportation received $140.6 million to help oversee Amtrak’s “Overhauls for Safe Operations of the Charger Locomotive Fleet” to overhaul up to 41 Charger locomotives that serve Amtrak’s Midwest and Pacific Northwest routes. Wisconsin DOT will contribute a 20 percent non-federal funding match, which may include funds from the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Missouri Department of Transportation, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the Washington State Department of Transportation.
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