NCDOT
NCDOT announced Jan. 13 that the town of Wake Forest has won a $13.2 million RAISE grant to design and build a “mobility hub” that will serve as the rail station for the S-Line passenger rail service starting in 2030 and provide last-mile solutions for travelers, such as public transit, walking, biking, and ride-sharing services.
The “mobility hub” will be one of several serving towns in central North Carolina along the S-Line passenger rail corridor under development.
NCDOT received a $1.09 billion federal grant in December 2023 to design and construct the first segment of the S-Line from Raleigh to Wake Forest, which will create faster passenger rail service from Raleigh to Washington D.C. Using that grant the NCDOT has already broken ground with plans to begin rail service to the town by 2030.
Wake Forest officials have plans to co-locate the “mobility hub” with the passenger rail station on the west side of White Street between East Jones Avenue and Wait Avenue.
NCDOT has received several federal grants as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which has provided funds to advance the S-Line program and other planning and construction projects.
CTDOT
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is awarding CTDOT with approximately $11.6 million as part of the BIL to increase and extend service along the CTrail Hartford Line.
The funding, which is being awarded under the FRA’s Restoration and Enhancement (R&E) Grant Program, will be matched by approximately $13.4 million in state funds from CTDOT.
The overall, $25 million project, CTDOT says, will increase service and reliability across the entire Hartford Line, including the rail stations in New Haven, Hartford, Windsor Locks, Conn., and Springfield, Mass.
In total, the CTrail Hartford Line Expanded Enhancement Project will:
- Add one weekday round trip from New Haven to Hartford, addressing a midday service gap of up to three hours.
- Increase customer service hours at Hartford Union Station by 75%.
- Extend the weekend 6456, 6457, 6458, and 6459 trains to Windsor Locks station.
- Extend the weekday 4401 train from Windsor Locks to Springfield.
- Continue previous 2020 funding for the addition of two weekdays trains between New Haven and Springfield.
- Enhance connectivity of the existing rail service along the Northeast Corridor.
Since its inception in 2018, the CTrail Hartford Line has grown significantly, spurring economic development and investments throughout the corridor, according to CTDOT. More than 750,000 passenger trips were expected in 2024, the highest ridership year since the service began.
By 2030, the CTrail Hartford Line Expanded Enhancement Project is projected to increase ridership by about 90,000, and saving motorists more than 100 million miles traveled, more than 3.5 million gallons of fuel annually, and more than 25,000 metric tons of reduced carbon emissions per year, according to CTDOT.
LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency
The LOSSAN Rail Corridor Rail Agency on Jan. 13, which manages the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train service, announced a grant award of $27 million from the FRA to increase train frequencies between Los Angeles and San Diego.
The grant, which is through the FRA’S R&E Grant Program, helps fund the operation of three roundtrips between Los Angeles and San Diego, increasing frequency to 13 daily Pacific Surfliner roundtrips along this segment and fully restoring service to levels that existed on the corridor prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The award marks a significant milestone for the LOSSAN Agency as its first successful federal grant award.
The 351-mile LOSSAN Rail Corridor travels through a six-county coastal region in Southern California. It is the second busiest intercity passenger rail corridor in the U.S. and the country’s busiest state-supported Amtrak route, according to the agency. Ridership on the Pacific Surfliner, which serves 29 stations throughout the corridor, increased 20% in 2024, to more than 2 million. The strong ridership comes as the Pacific Surfliner is currently operating with 16% less service than in 2019. The R&E Grant funding supports operational costs for the restoration of service levels for up to six years.
The restoration of these roundtrips between Los Angeles and San Diego, LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency says, will help fill gaps in the Pacific Surfliner’s current schedule and move the schedule toward more consistent hourly train service. The 11th and 12th roundtrips are planned to be implemented in March 2025, with the 13th coming in November 2025.
While the R&E Grant specifically funds the restoration of the roundtrips between Los Angeles and San Diego, it supports further enhancements of rail service between San Diego and Santa Barbara, and San Diego and San Luis Obispo. Additional roundtrips are planned for those segments in 2026 and beyond, pending equipment availability and future state funding allocations, according to the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency.
The restoration and enhancement of Pacific Surfliner service is crucial for meeting Southern California’s current and future transportation needs and “supports the region’s efforts to improve air quality and meet state and local mobility goals, providing better access to employment, education, and recreational opportunities throughout Southern California,” the agency said.
