Federal Railroad Administration Archives

Biden Admin Gives Millions to High-Speed Rail Project That Has Been Stalled for Years

September 3, 2024 Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden administration granted over $60 million to Amtrak for a stalling Texas high-speed rail project that has been failing to acquire private investment, according to grant records.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) granted $63.9 million on August 2 to Amtrak for the Texas High-Speed Rail Corridor project, which has been mired by delays since 2022 under private railroad company Texas Central, with top executives resigning as the initial private funding ran dry. The grant comes after a long line of funding from the federal government to Amtrak in pursuit of high-speed rail, with the FRA last granting $500,000 for the Texas project in December 2023 to study a Dallas-Houston high-speed rail connection.

‘Don’t Want to Get in the Way’: Pete Buttigieg Declines to Visit Site of Minnesota Fiery Train Derailment

March 30, 2023March 30, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Thursday that he will not visit a small Minnesota town that was evacuated after a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train derailed and caught fire earlier that morning.

Raymond, Minnesota, residents who live within a half mile from the derailment site were evacuated after approximately 22 cars derailed and four caught on fire around 1:00 a.m. CST. The train was carrying mixed freight including ethanol and corn syrup.

Feds Doling Out $2.3 Billion to ‘Expand and Modernize’ Intercity Passenger Rail

December 12, 2022December 11, 2022 The Center Square

The federal government is looking to dole out nearly $2.3 billion to “expand and modernize” intercity passenger rail across the country.

But a leading transportation analyst says that Amtrak, the nation’s passenger railroad, doesn’t have any plans to break even.

New Rail Regulation Rule Proposal Has No ‘Plausible Safety Justification’

August 16, 2022August 15, 2022 The Center Square

A new proposed rule change to expand railroad regulations without any safety justification “prioritizes politics over sound, data-driven safety policy,” industry experts argue. If implemented, they warn, increased regulatory burdens could drive up shipping costs when consumers already are grappling with 40-year-high inflationary price increases.

Trump Strips California of $930 Million in High-Speed Rail Funding

May 18, 2019May 17, 2019 Minnesota Sun Staff

by Michael Bastasch The Trump administration will terminate its agreement with California to fund the state’s struggling high-speed rail project, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) said Thursday. In a letter to state officials, Administrator Ronald Batory said FRA would deobligate the $928.6 million set aside for the California High-Speed…