The federal government is handing out $2.4 billion in railroad grants to assist pay for 122 projects nationwide with greater than half of the cash going to smaller railroads, including in Minnesota.
The grants announced Tuesday by the Federal Railroad Administration will go to projects across 41 states and Washington, D.C. A lot of the money will go to trace and bridge upgrades. But a number of the grants can be used to bolster training and explore cleaner-burning alternatives to the diesel railroads have long relied on. Some small railroads can even get help upgrading to more efficient locomotives.
Much of the cash comes from the 2021 infrastructure law that President Joe Biden championed. Last yr, the administration handed out $1.4 billion in these rail grants.
“Each project advances a future where our supply chains are stronger, passenger rail more accessible, and freight movement safer and more efficient,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release.
A number of the grants can even help address rail safety concerns which have change into prevalent since a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023 and spilled a cocktail of hazardous chemicals that caught fire. Regulators have urged railroads to enhance safety and the industry has undertaken numerous initiatives by itself. But larger changes that lawmakers proposed after the disastrous derailment have stalled in Congress and little progress has been made in the present election yr.
The most important single project is a $215 million grant that can help pay to exchange a Hudson River bridge that CSX owns between Albany and Rensselaer, Latest York, that Amtrak relies heavily on. The state is paying the opposite 60% of the $634.8 million cost of the project that can allow two trains and pedestrians to cross the river at the identical time. Currently, about 12 Amtrak trains and several other freight trains cross the bridge, inbuilt 1901, day-after-day.
But nearly all of the cash — nearly $1.3 billion — will go to 81 projects at smaller short line railroads across the country. Chuck Baker, president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association trade group, said the grants will help those smaller railroads significantly.
In Minnesota, the Minnesota Industrial Railway will stand up to $15.86 million for a locomotive emission reduction project.
Based in St. Paul’s Midway, the railway serves various Twin Cities customers.
One other $37.26 million will go toward boosting capability, safety and sustainability at Progressive Rail Inc.
Based in Lakeville, Progressive Rail serves various customers within the south metro.
In Wisconsin, nearly $73 million will go to improving the Muskego railyard in Milwaukee.