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Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced recipients of the state intercity passenger-rail grant program. The Federal Railroad Administration awarded grants totaling $30 million for 15 projects designed to reduce delays and expand capacity on existing passenger-rail routes, or launch new intercity service.

The states that received grants are:

• Arizona — $1 million to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a new service in the 140-mile Sun Corridor between Phoenix and Tuscon;
• California — $5 million for a 4.5-mile double-track project in the San Joaquin Corridor to reduce Amtrak delays;
• Illinois — $1.5 million to install Centralized Traffic Control on a 24.7-mile segment of the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor between Joliet and Mazonia, and $1.8 million to install a cab signal system on an 118.4-mile segment between Mazonia and Ridgely;
• Maine — $500,000 for Portland-area track improvements;
• Minnesota — $1.1 million for a Programmatic EIS for a 150-mile Twin Cities-to-Duluth high-speed rail line;
• Missouri — $3.3 million to build a passing track near California, and complete preliminary engineering for a second passing track in Knob Noster;
 • New York — $1.22 million for track and signal improvements at Albany-Rensselaer Station;
• Ohio — $62,500 for a planning and alternatives analysis for the proposed Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati corridor;
• Vermont — $450,000 to replace one mile of rail and re-deck four bridges on the state-supported Vermonter route, and $581,775 for a two-mile track reconstruction project near Rutland;
• Virginia — $2 million to construct a third track south of Fredericksburg Station;
• Washington — $6 million to conduct preliminary engineering and an environmental review, and acquire right of way for a 1.2-mile segment of the 19.5-mile Point Defiance Bypass project between Tacoma and Nisqually; and
• Wisconsin — $5 million to install 17.8 miles of continuous-welded rail between Milwaukee and the Wisconsin/Illinois border, replacing the last sections of remaining jointed rail on the Milwaukee-to-Chicago corridor, and $297,000 to conduct an alternatives analysis and planning study for the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative.