Amtrak has been awarded nearly 3 billion USD in US Department of Transportation grants for projects covering fleet renewal, maintenance facilities, bridges, and rail infrastructure across the United States.
The funding was announced by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) through its National Railroad Partnership Program, which supports capital projects aimed at addressing state-of-good-repair needs, improving service performance and expanding or establishing intercity passenger rail services.
Amtrak and its partners will provide a 20% funding match for each project, including potential contributions from other partners.
New Amtrak Trains
The largest allocation is 2.05 billion USD for the acquisition of up to 43 new trainsets and associated improvements. The new equipment will replace older trains reaching the end of their service lives on state-supported routes and increase Amtrak’s fleet capacity for additional locally sponsored services.
The trains will be built in the US, with the programme involving nearly 100 suppliers across 31 states.
The new trainsets are expected to support services including the Adirondack, Blue Water, Carolinian, Amtrak Cascades, Downeaster, Empire, Ethan Allen, Hartford Line, Hiawatha, Keystone, Lincoln, Pennsylvanian, Piedmont, Missouri River Runner and Wolverine.
Other routes listed as beneficiaries include services between Washington, DC, and Newport News, Norfolk and Roanoke, as well as the Illini/Saluki and Illinois Zephyr services.
Chicago Rail Infrastructure
A further $659 million will support maintenance facility modernisation and rail structure work in the Chicago region, which is Amtrak’s largest long-distance hub.
The project includes acquiring right of way to allow Amtrak to relocate maintenance facilities from the 14th Street Yard to the Canal Street Yard. The move is intended to improve the efficiency of the carrier’s Midwest maintenance operations and accommodate expected growth in passenger numbers.
The funding will also support the rehabilitation and replacement of more than a dozen ageing viaducts, bridges and associated structures at the new Midwest Maintenance Facility.
Separately, $37.2 million has been allocated to the South Branch Bridge Rehabilitation project. Amtrak will extend the service life of the existing bridge over the Chicago River while developing plans for a future replacement.
The bridge is more than 110 years old and is used by Amtrak, Metra commuter services and freight rail operators. The rehabilitation is intended to address reliability and maintenance requirements.
Projects in rural and regional areas
The funding also covers infrastructure projects outside major metropolitan areas.
In South Carolina, Amtrak and CSX will replace 31 miles of track that has reached the end of its service life, install 3,500 feet of bypass track and undertake additional work to improve infrastructure supporting several Amtrak services.
The project will also create dedicated station tracks at Florence, South Carolina. The improvements are intended to reduce journey times, improve reliability and limit delays caused by maintenance and congestion affecting passenger and freight services.
Near Havre and Lohman, Montana, Amtrak and BNSF will construct six miles of second mainline track, together with access roads and supporting infrastructure. The work is designed to address a bottleneck where passenger and freight trains currently interact.
Amtrak will also introduce new onboard shunt enhancement devices across its rolling stock. The equipment is intended to improve train system reliability and safety protection across the carrier’s 32 state-supported routes and 15 long-distance routes.
Amtrak’s state-supported network comprises 32 routes sponsored by state departments of transportation or other rail authorities. Its long-distance network consists of 15 services, most of which operate overnight and include sleeping cars.
The FRA funding will also support planning and construction for more than 30 additional projects involving Amtrak partners. These include grade separation work for the Sunset Limited in Texas, a safety programme for North Carolina’s Piedmont Corridor, the relocation of Portland station in Maine, a travel safety project in Colorado and infrastructure improvements supporting the California Zephyr in Nebraska.
In Missouri, funding will support three highway grade separations on the Marceline Subdivision, while Ohio will receive support for a grade separation project at Symmes Road in Fairfield.
The latest grants follow several other Amtrak infrastructure projects supported by federal funding. In July, Amtrak awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of Dock Bridge in New Jersey. Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT also jointly delivered the Portal North Bridge project, which entered passenger service in March.
In Boston, Amtrak has begun work on the Southampton Rail Yard, a new facility intended to support its Airo trainsets when they enter service from late 2027.
Amtrak said the latest investment will support the renewal of infrastructure and rolling stock used by state-supported and long-distance passenger services across the US.
