Happening Now
Biden Administration to Make Major Passenger Rail Announcement
December 6, 2023
Biden Administration is Expected to Make Major Passenger Rail Announcements This Friday
The U.S. Department of Transportation is expected to make a major announcement about two important passenger rail programs this Friday, announcing $8.1 billion in Federal - State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (Fed-State) grants for National Network projects while simultaneously unveiling the inaugural Corridor Identification Program project pipeline.
Details of the announcement are already trickling out, with the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Brightline West issuing press releases celebrating $3 billion grants each for the two high-speed rail projects.
“This is a huge day for train passengers in the U.S., and we want to thank the Biden-Harris Administration for delivering on the promise of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said Rail Passengers Association President Jim Mathews. “This is just one of many passenger rail corridors that will benefit from this funding. But Americans are ready to ride a world-class rail system now, and so we’re grateful to California for leading the way.”
Members of Congress are also celebrating, and we’re keeping a running list of announcements, which we’ll be updating between now and Friday:
- Senator Brown announces Corridor ID grant for Ohio
- Senator Tester announces Corridor ID grant for Montana
- Senator Tilllis announces Fed-State grant for North Carolina
- Senator Casey & Congressman Cartwright announce Corridor ID grant for Pennsylvania (Scranton-New York)
- Congresswomen Dean & Houlahan announce Corridor ID grant for Pennsylvania (Reading-Philadelphia)
- Congressman Cohen announces Corridor ID grant for Tennessee
- Senators Durbin & Duckworth announce Corridor ID grants for Illinois
- Senator Baldwin announces Corridor ID grants for Wisconsin
Rail Passengers will have all the news as it breaks, so stay tuned Friday!
"On behalf of Amtrak’s onboard service staff, I want to thank the Rail Passengers Association for honoring their hard work with this award. The past couple years have indeed been difficult for Amtrak onboard service staff – coping with furloughs and job insecurity, adapting to changing protocols and services, not to mention the unfortunate events such as a tragic derailment and a fatal shooting. Nevertheless, our dedicated members at Amtrak have handled these hurdles with the care, attention and diligence for which they’re known. We thank Rail Passengers for their acknowledgement of our members’ hard work and, as always, look forward to seeing you on the rails."
Arthur Maratea, TCU/IAM National President
December 21, 2021, on the Association awarding its 2021 Golden Spike Award to the Frontline Amtrak Employees.
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