USDOT: $5B Available for National Railroad Partnership Program Projects, $42MM Going to Brightline Florida Corridor Safety
According to the USDOT, the NOFO (download below) includes approximately $2.4 billion of the $4 billion the Federal Railroad Administration de-obligated in August from the California High-Speed Rail project, which it said will “now be reinvested into successful projects, critical infrastructure upgrades, and rail safety.” The California High-Speed Rail Authority is suing the POTUS 47 Administration for the $4 billion funding pull-back.
The “new National Railroad Partnership Program,” administered by the FRA, will fund projects that improve safety, including grade crossing safety, or that reduce the state-of-good-repair backlog or otherwise improve performance, the USDOT said.
The FRA is reissuing the NOFO for fiscal year (FY) 2024 and adding funding for the FY 2025 National Railroad Partnership Program. The FY 2024 NOFO was originally published last September as the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program, and the USDOT said that the reissued NOFO includes several important changes, including:
- “The repeal of unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements.”
- “Emphasizing grade crossing safety projects within the program.”
- “Supporting projects that align with the Administration’s focus on the American family and ensuring a more seamless travel experience, such as adding mothers’ rooms, expanding waiting areas, adding new family restrooms, creating children’s play areas, and other projects improving overall travel for families in U.S. intercity passenger rail stations.”
Eligible National Railroad Partnership Program applicants include:
- a State.
- a group of States.
- an Interstate Compact.
- a public agency or publicly chartered authority established by one or more States.
- a political subdivision of a State.
- Amtrak, acting on its own behalf or under a cooperative agreement with one or more States.
- a Federally recognized Indian Tribe.
- any combination of the entities described above.
Applications are due no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 7, 2026, and FRA will provide technical assistance to potential applicants prior to the deadline.
Meanwhile, the USDOT also obligated four grants totaling more than $42 million to fund rail safety projects on the Brightline Florida corridor. The grants, the oldest of which was issued three years ago, are a part of a “backlog” of more than 3,200 “unobligated grants,” and support installing safety fencing, grade crossing upgrades, and a trespassing alert system, according to the Department.
The four grants include:
- $24,934,138 for the East Coast Corridor Trespassing and Intrusion Mitigation Project. Announced in August 2022, the RAISE grant went to the Florida Department of Transportation for improvements to 330 highway/rail grade crossings along 195 miles of corridor, including fencing, crossing delineators, crisis support signage, and other intrusion prevention mitigations, according to the USDOT.
- $1,648,000 for a Trespassing Identification and Classification System. Announced in September 2023, the grant was under the CRISI Grant Program for FY22. “The project will advance a technology that will provide real-time alerts and aggregate data to generate heat-maps of trespassing and potential collision events on the Florida East Coast Railway right-of-way from Miami to Cocoa,” USDOT said.
- $15,440,000 for the Broward County Sealed Corridor Project. Announced in June 2023, the funding will be used to increase safety at 21 grade crossings along the Brightline/Florida East Coast Railway corridor with additional crossing gates and delineators, according to the USDOT.
- $150,000 for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office “to support overtime costs for targeted enforcement of pedestrian trespassing at identified hot spots,” the USDOT reported.
“Under [U.S. Transportation] Secretary [Sean P.] Duffy’s direction, the Department of Transportation is working diligently to accelerate the distribution of these long-overdue funds and address core infrastructure projects,” the USDOT said.
