September 21, 2025 - TRA Newswire -

States and rail entities will soon be scrambling to apply for over $5 billion that the Federal Railroad Administration just announced will be designated for intercity passenger rail projects, including safer at-grade rail crossings. 

In a USDOT news release, it was announced that a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) "includes approximately $2.4 billion the FRA de-obligated from the California High-Speed Rail boondoggle, which will now be reinvested into successful projects, critical infrastructure upgrades, and rail safety. This is the first of many Trump Infrastructure Dividends whereby recompeted federal dollars will be redirected from wasteful boondoggles to real infrastructure projects that benefit the American people."

Applications for grants must be in the hands of the Federal Railroad Administration by January 7, 2026. Funding Available for awards under the FY 2025 NOFO total $5,070,784,989. 

Eligible applicants include a state, group of states or political subdivision of a state; a public agency; an interstate compact; a public agency or publicly chartered authority; a federally recognized Indian tribe; Amtrak; and combinations of those entities. It did not appear that privately funded high-speed rail entities, like the Texas Central Dallas to Houston project, were included.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said “Our new National Railroad Partnership Program will emphasize safety – our number one priority – without the radical Biden-Buttigieg DEI and green grant requirements. Instead of wasting dollars on Governor Newsom’s high-speed rail boondoggle, these targeted investments will improve the lives of rail passengers, local drivers, and pedestrians.”

The grant program includes improvements to grade crossings, which result in more than 2,000 incidents and 200 fatalities each year. Just this year the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 1555, signed by Governor Greg Abbott, which allocates $250 million dollars for railroad grade separation projects on non-TxDOT controlled highways. "Texas could leverage the $250 million allocated in this first-ever grade crossing bill with federal grant dollars to have a much wider statewide impact," said Texas Rail Advocates President Peter LeCody. 

"We urge the Texas Transportation Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation to file grant applications by the January deadline. We need to improve intercity passenger rail corridors in Texas and we are so far behind every other state," according to LeCody. 

“The funding will help advance FRA’s top priority of making railroads safer,” said FRA Acting Administrator Drew Feeley. “These funds will significantly enhance and strengthen grade crossing safety, along with other eligible uses related to passenger rail capacity and reliability.” According to National Operation Lifesaver, Texas ranked as the state with the most accidents in highway-rail grade crossing incidents in 2024. There were 283 collisions at Texas rail crossings that resulted in 20 deaths and 81 injuries.

The FRA is reissuing the NOFO for fiscal year (FY) 2024 and adding funding for the FY 2025 National Railroad Partnership Program. The FY 2024 NOFO was originally published last September as the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program, and the reissued NOFO includes several important changes, including:

• The repeal of unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements as part of the Trump Administration’s push to end illegal discrimination and restore merit-based opportunity.
• Emphasizing grade crossing safety projects within the program, which is a major shift from the Biden-Harris Administration’s wasteful spending to benefit only a sliver of the population.
• Supporting projects that align with the Administration’s focus on the American family and ensuring a more seamless travel experience, such as adding mothers’ rooms, expanding waiting areas, adding new family restrooms, creating children’s play areas, and other projects improving overall travel for families in U.S. intercity passenger rail stations.

Additional Information:

A safe National rail network is a critical component of the U.S. transportation system and economy. The National Railroad Partnership Program provides a federal funding opportunity to improve American passenger rail assets by funding projects that enhance safety, including grade crossing safety, or that reduce the state-of-good-repair backlog or otherwise improve performance.

Eligible National Railroad Partnership Program applicants include:  

• a State,  
• a group of States,  
• an Interstate Compact,  
• a public agency or publicly chartered authority established by one or more States,  
• a political subdivision of a State,  
• Amtrak, acting on its own behalf or under a cooperative agreement with one or more States,  
• a Federally recognized Indian Tribe, and  
• any combination of the entities described above.  

The NOFO is available on FRA’s website here and on www.Grants.gov. Applications are due no later than 11:59 p.m. ET, Wednesday, January 7, 2026, and FRA will provide technical assistance to potential applicants prior to the deadline. More information about the National Railroad Partnership Program can be found on FRA’s website here.