Rail projects in question due to federal funding freeze, PennDOT leader says

The future of federal funding for rail, highway and other infrastructure projects under the Trump administration is creating uncertainty for proposed projects in Pennsylvania, the state's top transportation official told state lawmakers yesterday.

During a state House budget hearing held yesterday, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll said he's hesitant to advance transportation improvement projects that received grant funding under the Biden administration, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported. 

The projects include a plan to increase capacity on Norfolk Southern Railway tracks to accommodate a second daily train on Amtrak's Pennsylvanian service. In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration announced a $144 million grant to expand the service, which operates from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Those dollars have yet to be sent to the state, however.

Uncertainty over federal grants for rail and other infrastructure projects announced during the Biden administration have been in flux since President Trump last month signed an executive order that froze federal funding.

“Funds that were discretionary awards, that haven’t been obligated, are sort of in question right now,” Carroll told members of the state House Appropriations Committee, according to the Capital-Star. “It doesn’t mean they’re lost. They’ve been paused, and we would be hesitant to go forward with the use of those funds absent an obligation.”

Carroll said he's hopeful the federal government will stand by its grant awards. An effort to restore passenger-rail service between Scranton and New York City's Penn Station is continuing "absent any declaration from the [FRA] to stop," Carroll said, according to the report.

A third rail project, to restore passenger-rail service from Reading to Philadelphia, is not far along. That's the subject of an FRA planning and development effort, but Pennsylvania has yet to receive funding to begin the planning phase of the Scranton project.

“It would be a fool’s errand for me to try and predict future steps from the FRA or any of our other federal partners when it comes to how they intend to orchestrate the delivery of these projects,” Carroll said.