WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration on Friday announced the availability of more than $153 million in grant funding to initiate, restore, or improve intercity passenger service.
The funds under the FRA’s Restoration and Enhancement Grant program are to assist with operating costs on projects that establish new routes, restore service on routes that previously had passenger service, or add to service on existing routes. For up to the first six years of a new, restored, or improved service, they cover expenses such as crew costs; station costs such as ticket sales, customer information, and train dispatching; routine maintenance costs; marketing; and administrative costs.
The program “plays a vital role in bringing world-class rail passenger service to all American by improving rider satisfaction and making possible new routes and services,” FRA Administrator Amit Bose said in a press release announcing the program’s Notice of Funding Opportunity. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “Safer, more frequent, and more accessible passenger rail services — made possible with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — will expand travel and commuting options, creating newly efficient and sustainable opportunities to get around the country.”
This is the first round of funding made available for the program since funding was greatly increased by the infrastructure law. $4.4 million in funds were awarded in fiscal 2017, and $22.4 million in fiscal years 2018-2020.
The Notice of Funding Opportunity is available here; more details on the program can be found here.
Charles I didnt associate names with either scenario but apparently you were able to make the match! How are you at other word games?
Regarding the money/funding disappearing depends upon who wins in November. With one candidate the investment might well continue, as for the other it will vanish as well might Amtrak.
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, and it’s ME that’s accused of bringing politics to these pages ????????? ME??????
Seems to me that under ……
B – Braindead
I – Idiot
D – Demented
E – Extreme
N – Nincompoop
…. Amtrak has come very close to falling apart. Despite all the “investment” that you toot. If you want a future for Amtrak in America, vote for competent candidates, who would be Trump/ Vance. Not Biden/ Harris, whose combined IQ would shame a cockroach. And whose combined morality would shame a sewer rat.
Sorry Charles. They are both sewer rats. We are screwed as a country with the people we have/will elect. Shame on us for letting it get to this point. Our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves of how ignorant we have become.
Well, this Vance will be supporting the Biden team for finally passing and funding an infrastructure plan that supports all forms of transportation including passenger rail.
How? By printing more money? Our government is broke morally and financially
Is P32 500 AMTK’s oldest passenger locomotive?
Maybe? I seem to recall the first Amtrak P32-8BWHs were delivered in late 1991/early 1992, so yes this loco has been around for quite awhile (32+years?)
Just watch this money disappear once the election is over in November.
And I’m guessing the (unstated) assumption with this new FRA grant funding for “new routes” and “restored services” is that Amtrak will operate these new/expanded passenger trains. Well, good luck with that, does Amtrak have any extra equipment (passenger cars/locomotives) and personnel to run these services? Clearly not …..
Perhaps a better approach would be to incentivize new (private or public?) operators to develop real proposals that might actually work. Demonstrate a clear and logical business plan where a new (or restored) service could work. Show us credible ridership forecasts, revenues/costs, markets, etc. Of course, negotiating access for these services w/ the Class I’s would be a major issue and probably a deal-killer.
But throwing a few more federal $$$ at our broken and dysfunctional “National Passenger Rail Corporation” and expecting that anything beneficial will come of this seems to me delusional at best.
Given the sizable cost of developing new and/or restored passenger rail services, $153M in funding won’t go very far …..
But leave it to “Mayor Pete” to provide plenty of platitudes and positive spin, nevermind what might result from this new federal endeavor …..
Once again the photo shows the 1850’s vintage ROW divergence in Brookfield/Elm Grove.
In my long listed posted yesterday of features found between the tracks in Brookfield and Elm Grove, I omitted this: one of the elementary schools in the Elmbrook School District.
Back to the article itself, here we have yet another federal program to spread around cash and give the appearance of doing something while concealing the actual cost. As we must know, $530 M’s by itself will accomplish nothing. It’s additive to the numerous other subsidies. In a well-run government (as opposed to USA, which is a banana republic) there would be a logical and transparent budget process. The Congress and the Administration would come out with one (sizable) budget item in support of transit and Amtrak and present it to the voters as: Here it is, like it or not, oppose it or support it.