New Funding for CRISI Grants to Fuel "Rail Revolution"

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) today announcing the availability of over $1.4 billion in funding for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant program. The CRISI Program funds upgrades to America’s freight and passenger rail corridors, eliminating chokepoints and enhancing multimodal rail connections.

Guaranteed funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in November of last year, are finally entering the USDOT’s grant pipeline, dramatically increasing the funding opportunities for this year’s CRISI —almost four times what was available in FY21!

“Projects funded by these CRISI grants will generate economic opportunities and improve the travel experience in communities across America, whether urban or rural, large or small,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. “With the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s massive boost to the CRISI Program, the funding made available today will help launch our country’s new rail revolution and maintain our rail network’s unmatched standards for safety and efficiency.”

The BIL also introduces a few new policy guidelines for the CRISI program, including a broader pool of eligible applicants, and new set-asides for various categories of investment:

Rural Area Set-Aside—At least $376,035,000, or 25 percent of amounts appropriated, will be made available for projects in rural areas.

Intercity Passenger Rail Set-Aside—At least $150,000,000 will be made available for Capital Projects that support the development of new Intercity Passenger Rail Service routes including alignments for existing routes.

Trespassing Measures Set-Aside—At least $25,000,000 will be made available for the development and implementation of measures to prevent trespassing on rail corridors and reduce associated injuries and fatalities.

Magnetic Levitation Deployment Projects Set-Aside—$2,000,000 in 2021 Appropriation funding will be made available for the Deployment of Magnetic Levitation Transportation Projects. In addition, up to $5,000,000 will be made available from the 2022 Appropriation for preconstruction planning activities and capital costs related to the deployment of magnetic levitation transportation projects. [Editor’s note: we don’t know why Congress keeps doing this, either.]

Of course, since it’s a discretionary grant program, it means that state and local entities that haven’t done the work to identify eligible projects will be left out in the cold. Applications for this NOFO are due no later than December 1, 2022, and Rail Passengers is working with our members to encourage their state and local passenger rail authorities to apply for these funds.