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. That speech is now available via video below.
[Above image by AASHTO]
Feeley said at the meeting that his agency is focused on improving efficiency both for its programs and for the rail services under its jurisdiction during the upcoming year. For example, he said FRA has streamlined the application for its Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements or CRISI program to under 40 pages. Full video of his remarks is below.
“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 at the time. “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. 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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