CRISI grants enable many state DOTs to pursue myriad rail projects
10/16/2023
By Julie Sneider, Senior Associate Editor
Freight and passenger railroads weren’t the only entities to be awarded grants last month through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program: State departments of transportation also received millions for projects designed to address long-standing rail needs.
Grants were awarded for projects aimed at improving connectivity, reducing shipping costs, increasing resiliency to extreme weather, cutting emissions and supporting workforce development efforts, according to an FRA press release.
Among the rail-improvement projects that received a combined $1.4 billion in CRISI grants for fiscal-year 2022, 13 are governed by state DOTs, which obtained a total of $360.8 million in funding.
The largest was a $108.1 million grant won by the Massachusetts DOT for a series of infrastructure improvements along the rail corridor between Springfield and Worcester. MassDOT applied for the grant in partnership with Amtrak and with support from CSX.
When completed, the project will accommodate the addition of two round-trip Amtrak Lake Shore Limited intercity passenger trains per day at higher speeds, while maintaining existing freight operations, according to the FRA. In many locations, the infrastructure work involves raising track classifications to allow for higher train speeds and addressing track alignments within certain curves.
The project will result in new Amtrak service connecting Boston, Springfield and New Haven, Connecticut, according to MassDOT Rail and Transit Administrator Meredith Slesinger.
A $108.1 million CRISI grant will help MassDOT fund rail infrastructure improvements along the corridor between Springfield and Worcester. The department applied for the grant in partnership with Amtrak and with support from CSX. Eli Wilson/Shutterstock“In addition to the new service, the funded improvements will benefit operation of the existing Amtrak Lake Shore Limited service connecting Boston, Springfield, Pittsfield and Albany, and set the foundation for future east-west passenger and freight service growth,” Slesinger said in a press release issued by Gov. Maura Healey’s office. “Growing rail in the commonwealth is an essential element of our strategy to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and provide more transportation options to better connect communities across the state.”
MassDOT will contribute $18 million and Amtrak, $9 million, toward the project’s total cost of $135 million. The infrastructure improvements will enable increased train speeds and additional capacity along the 53-mile section of CSX’s Boston & Albany Line. Also, a siding will be constructed in Grafton, Massachusetts, that will improve the efficiency and capacity of an interchange with the Grafton & Upton Railroad to help minimize the impact of freight-rail service on passenger operations, according to MassDOT.
Dollars for freight, passenger or port projects
Other CRISI grants awarded to state DOTs that aim to benefit both freight and passenger railroads include $6.9 million to the Florida DOT and $8.8 million to the Maryland DOT–Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA).
In Florida, the grant proceeds will help fund various improvements at 110 grade crossings and trespassing-prevention measures at select locations. At the crossings, work will include pavement markings, signage, surface replacement and the installation of traffic signal equipment.
The goal of the project is to improve safety for pedestrians, motorists, CSX, Florida Central Railroad, Amtrak and SunRail commuter service at crossings along the Central Florida rail corridor.
MDOT MTA will apply its CRISI grant to the cost of infrastructure work designed to support a new rail connection between the Maryland Area Rail Commuter (MARC) Penn Line, Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and the MARC Camden Line on CSX’s Capital Subdivision. The project will help advance a rail connection between the Penn and Camden lines to improve the reliability of passenger- and freight-rail service, according to the FRA.
MDOT also received a separate $11.6 million CRISI grant to replace three older emission diesel-electric switching locomotives with three new battery-electric units and an associated battery charging station at the Port of Baltimore. CSX will operate and own the battery-electric locomotives at its Curtis Bay Piers Terminal.
The new units are expected to annually reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter by 1,530 metric tons, 71 metric tons and 3.43 metric tons, respectively, compared to the older locomotives, according to a press release issued by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office.
CSX will provide a 50% match for the $23.2 million project. The CRISI funding will help advance sustainability efforts at the port, said CSX Resident Vice President Brian Hammock.
Bundles of bridge repairs
Meanwhile, a couple of CRISI grants awarded to state DOTs will be used to renovate or rebuild rail bridges. The largest of those awards is a $23.7 million grant to the Tennessee DOT to upgrade or replace 42 rail bridges that are past their lifespan.
Most are old timber structures that require immediate, extensive repairs or replacement, according to state DOT officials. The bridges are located along 10 different short lines and in 12 Tennessee counties.
TDOT will manage the grant award and collaborate with railroads, rail authorities, rural communities and industries to fund and complete the project. The short lines will provide a 50% funding match for the work.
“Short lines are critically important components of Tennessee’s multimodal transportation network and to rural economies,” said TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley in a press release. “Rehabilitation of the rail bridge infrastructure will lead to economic gains … and enhance supply-chain efficiency and safety [by keeping] large, heavy cargo and hazardous commodities off our highways.”
In Michigan, the state DOT obtained a $20.4 million CRISI grant to help pay for design and construction work to replace the 135-year-old Manistee River Bridge. Located on a state-owned railroad that’s leased to Great Lakes Central Railroad (GLC), the bridge is in poor condition, state officials said.
Replacing the bridge will help restore railroad timetable speeds, increase the structure’s freight load allowance to 286,000-pound rail cars and preserve rail service to shippers located in Michigan’s northwest lower peninsula, they added.
The project’s total cost is $34 million; the Michigan DOT will contribute $13 million and GLC, $750,000. The project is anticipated to start in 2025 and conclude in 2027.
"Replacing this structure will ensure today's heavier freight cars will be able to cross the bridge and that there will be no disruptions to northern Michigan supply chains,” said Michigan Transportation Director Bradley Wieferich in a press release.
DOT grants target smaller railroads, too
Several CRISI grants won by DOTs also will benefit some short lines and regionals. Among them:
• The South Dakota DOT obtained a $24.7 million grant to replace 37 miles of the Sisseton Milbank Railroad (SMRR) and rehabilitate one bridge. The SMRR modernization project is designed to improve safety, support more efficient truck unloading operations and better accommodate the transportation of grain along the corridor, SDDOT officials said in a press release.
• The Alabama DOT received a $15.9 million grant to complete track and bridge improvements on two short lines: the Eastern Alabama Railway and Meridian & Bigbee Railroad. The project aims to increase the maximum allowable train speeds on both rail corridors, enhance storage capacity and improve safety.
• The Pennsylvania DOT landed a $11.3 million grant for various track-related improvements and upgrades to multiple crossings on 220 miles of track along the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad (BPRR). The short line interchanges with CN, CSX and the Allegheny Valley Railroad, and is critical to transporting commodities such as aggregates, automotive products, chemicals, coal, food and feed products, metals, minerals and lumber, PennDOT officials said. The project is designed to return BPRR to a state of good repair, support supply-chain efficiency and increase safety. Construction is expected to be completed at the end of 2026.
• The Vermont Agency of Transportation obtained a $9.7 million grant for various track-related improvements and upgrades to certain crossings along the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad’s 162-mile corridor in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. When completed, the work will enable rail-car load capacity of 286,000 pounds, up from the current 263,000 pounds. The railroad and DOTs in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire will contribute matching funds for the project.
More information on state DOT-awarded CRISI grants that will benefit various regionals and short lines is available in this Oct. 2 RailPrime article.
