An online conference sponsored by the Rail Users’ Network (RUN) will feature efforts to bring new corridor-length passenger train routes to various parts of the nation through the FRA’s Corridor I.D. and Development Program. The event will take place on Friday, Nov. 15, from 12:00 noon until 5:00 PM, Eastern Time.
Passenger trains are known to boost the economies of the communities they serve, and conference presenters will explore efforts to start new routes through the FRA program. The theme of the conference will be F.R.A. Corridor Grants – Boosting Economic Activity – the Rail Way!
According to the FRA, “The Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) Program is a comprehensive intercity passenger rail planning and development program that will help guide intercity passenger rail development throughout the country and create a pipeline of intercity passenger rail projects ready for implementation.” The agency says: “For each selected Corridor, FRA initially awards the grantee $500,000 for eligible activities related to the initiation of a grantee’s Corridor development efforts to include the development of a scope, schedule, and cost estimate for preparing a service development plan (SDP) for a Corridor.” These initial grants are only the beginning, and 69 projects around the country have received them. Funding came from the Infrastructure Innovation & Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).”
A list of the proposed projects with some description of each can be downloaded below. Routes selected for the program are organized into four categories, according to that document:
- New High-Speed Rail. Services planned to operate at speeds of up to 186 mph or greater, primarily or solely on new, dedicated alignment.
- New Conventional Rail. Services generally planned to operate at speeds of up to 79-125 mph, and primarily on existing rail alignments shared with other railroad operations (freight and/or commuter).
- Existing Routes with Extensions. Existing intercity passenger rail services with planned extensions, operating at speeds of up to 79-125 mph and primarily on existing shared rail alignments.
- Existing Routes. Existing intercity passenger rail services with planned improvements to frequencies, trip times, stations, or other characteristics.
Some of those routes were also named in Amtrak’s ConnectsUS plan for new state-supported corridor length routes, announced in 2021 and suggesting hoped-for services that would start between now and 2035. One, the long-awaited and hard-won Gulf Coast Service between Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, is scheduled to start running next year. The likelihood of starting service on other proposed lines is less clear. While there is overlap in the projects named in both programs, they are separate. The upcoming RUN conference will focus on the FRA program.
The Amtrak plan was introduced in the spring of 2021, while the FRA program came the following year. When the FRA announced it, Amtrak issued a supportive statement on May 13, 2022: “We are excited for state transportation departments and other parties to notify the FRA that they are interested in proposed new routes and expanded service to be considered by the FRA as part of this federal program. This is an easy, effective, and no-cost way for states and local groups to take the first step and bring more trains to more people in their home states and across America. We look forward to seeing which states and other parties submit Expressions of Interest to the FRA, and to working with all stakeholders to advance more trains to more people across America.”
It remains to be seen how Amtrak’s plan and the FRA’s program will fit together, expressing the intent to get more corridor-length passenger train routes started, with financial support and other help from the states. So far, the program has produced several $500,000 grants to get the process started, but that amount of money will not buy much, especially when costs of big projects are counted in billions. Still, the process has started, and the RUN conference will provide an update on how it is progressing.
The Corridor ID process is complex, and the FRA has been giving online presentations, primarily for grantees, about how to proceed further, including looking toward developing an SDP. There are links to more of that information on the agency’s web site, as previously mentioned. After RUN Chair Richard Rudolph introduces the conference, two presenters from the agency will give an overview of the program for attendees, who RUN expects will include rider-advocates, railroad managers, and state and local-level transportation officials. Lyle Leitelt, Project Spokesperson and Chief of the Project Planning Division, and Barbara Moreno, Sponsor Outreach Specialist will be the FRA’s speakers. They will not be advocating for any projects, and their sole purpose will be to describe the program itself.
Rudolph told me: “The conference will provide a unique opportunity to learn more about the FRA’s program. We will focus on several organizations that have received the initial award. This is only a sampling because 69 proposals were selected, and we’re only focusing on a representation of that group, ranging from Vermont to California. The program will conclude with a panel presentation, which will highlight what advocates can do to help move these projects along.”
Many RUN members are involved with advocacy at the state level, and the conference will also include a panel on “Legislative Strategies for Funding Passenger Rail Projects at the State Level.” It will feature presenters from three states with different political orientations: Peter LeCody, President of the Texas Rail Advocates, Steve Roberts, President of the Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada, and Danny Plougher, Executive Director of Virginians for High-Speed Rail. The moderator will be RUN Vice-Chair Andrew Albert, who is also a rider-representative on the New York MTA Board.
The rest of the event will focus on case studies presented by advocates and officials who are actively campaigning at the state level for the new trains they want in their states. They represent several regions of the country. The Northeast will be represented by Carl Fowler of the Vermont Rail Advocacy Council, and Andy Koziol, MassDOT’s East-West Rail Director. The presenters from the South will be Ray Rapp, Co-Chair of the Western North Carolina Rail Corridor I.D. Project, Gene Merritt, Co-Chair of Eastern North Carolina Rail, Robert Reichert, former mayor of Macon, Georgia, and John Spain, Louisiana’s member of the Southern Rail Commission. Presenters from states in other regions include John Easterly, Executive Director of All Aboard Ohio and Chair of the Ohio State Legislative Board for the BLET, Todd Liebman, President of All Aboard Arizona, Kyle Gradinger, Chief of the Rail Division and Mass Transportation for Caltrans, and Peter LeCody, President of the Texas Rail Advocates.
I will deliver the closing remarks.
With ten states represented and varying rail projects under consideration in those states and elsewhere, the conference will present a diversified picture of efforts to expand passenger rail under the auspices of the FRA Corridor I.D. and Development Program, with the hope of expanding the nation’s passenger train map in a manner and on a scale that has not been done before. Illinois and California developed their own intrastate corridor networks under Amtrak auspices decades ago, and those lines (three in each state) are still going strong. Other states have developed a single corridor or a route with one daily frequency. The apparent intent of the FRA program is significantly broader than those efforts were.
Anyone who is interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to learn more about the FRA program and efforts to start new passenger routes around the country under that program can register now on the RUN website, www.railusers.net. The conference is free for RUN members. Non-members can register for the conference for just $25.00, which is also the introductory rate for the first year of membership, so attendees who pay that amount will also be enrolled as RUN members for the coming year.
RUN holds online conferences in the spring and fall, publishes the RUN Newsletter, andparticipates in other educational and advocacy activities toward the improvement of all rail passenger transportation modes in the United States and Canada. That includes local rail transit (streetcars, light rail, and subway/elevated lines), regional passenger railroads serving American and Canadian cities, corridors and long-distance trains, including those operated by Amtrak in the United States and VIA Rail in Canada.
