As a strike by United Auto Workers union members lingers and spreads in the automotive sector, the federal government has announced $1.4 billion in rail-related infrastructure spending approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
The DOT’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) says it has identified more than 70 rail improvement projects in 35 states and Washington, D.C. worth $1.4 billion in spending tied to the 2021 infrastructure law. The projects are likely to involve the use of steel and concrete as well as the generation of scrap metal and concrete for crushing and recycling.
“This is the largest amount ever awarded for rail safety and rail supply chain upgrades through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program,” states a White House press release.
The CRISI program has become four times larger because of the infrastructure law, allowing it to fund track improvements, bridge rehabilitations, the elimination of highway-rail grade crossings and upgrades on routes carrying hazardous materials.
On the freight rail front, the White House adds, “Selected projects also improve connectivity, reduce shipping costs, increase resiliency to extreme weather, reduce emissions and support workforce development.”
Some of the projects underway and being planned are spanning Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi that will see some $178 million in federal funding going to Amtrak for a Gulf Coast Corridor Improvement Project, designed to restore passenger service in a region that has not had access to it since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
In Ohio, more than $16 million will be spent to rehabilitate bridges and make several track-related improvements along approximately 180 miles of the Kanawha River Railroad (KNWA) in the southern part of the state. “The project will allow for increased speeds while improving safety, reliability, and capacity on a rail line that moves needed goods, including chemicals and hazardous materials, in rural areas of West Virginia and Ohio,” says the White House.
Track, signal, grade crossing and station improvements should allow Amtrak to add two new daily round trips between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. The project also will help maintain reliable freight operations along a line used by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway involving service to and from the Port of Mobile.
Battery electric locomotives and a battery charger at the Port of Baltimore are in the offing in Maryland, where some $11.5 million will entail replacing “three older, higher-emission locomotives,” benefiting shippers, port employees and nearby communities by decreasing air emissions and noise, says the DOT.