FRA provides funds for Midwest, Southeast passenger rail planning
Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is allocating $ 2,780,651 for multi-state passenger railroad planning in both the Southeast and Midwest regions.
The funds are intended to form more comprehensive regional governance organizations to sustain current planning work and develop a long-term passenger rail vision for their respective regions. Funding will also be utilized to enhance FRA’s passenger rail network planning tool with updated cost and trip table data, as well as new mapping and benefit-cost analysis features. These efforts will build off of the pilot Southwest Passenger Rail Study funded under similar authority in FY 2010 and released in October 2014.
“Access to passenger rail is vital to many citizens in North Dakota,” said Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND). “This program helps federal and state governments develop a long-term strategy to meet the passenger railway needs of North Dakota and the region.”
“We need more accurate planning for passenger rail in North Dakota and throughout the Midwest so that we can operate rail more efficiently,” said Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This is an investment in rail infrastructure and will help make the overall system run more smoothly. I will continue to work in the Appropriations Committee to secure funding to build rail infrastructure that will make our railroads safer and more efficient.”
In the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) “Fast Lane” blog, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx stated that the Beyond Traffic study indicates that by 2045, America will be home to 70 million more people than today.
“So, take our already congested roads and runways and imagine what they look like with 70 million more Americans trying to wedge their way from city to city,” he wrote. “We have a capacity problem now that is only going to get worse in the very near future. A world-class passenger rail network in our fastest-growing regions is no luxury; it’s a necessity. We also have a rail network that, with a commitment from USDOT, states and regions, can be upgraded to accommodate quality passenger service.”
He said USDOT will undertake a $1 million planning effort to create a shared, workable vision for a Southeast passenger rail network that connects Washington, D.C., to Richmond, to Charlotte, to Raleigh and to Atlanta. These are cities that, like their Northeast Corridor counterparts, are business and population centers between which people need a travel option beyond crowded highways and airplanes.
