September 16, 2020 -TRA Newswire  -

A federal rail grant of $25 million that was announced today will help with freight and regional passenger rail capacity improvements between Dallas and Fort Worth on the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) line. The busy rail corridor is used by the TRE, Amtrak, frequent Class 1 railroad moves and short line rail operations.  U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao's announcement of the North Texas award was one of 70 projects in 44 states and part of a $1 billion Trump Administration investment in American infrastructure.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) was the applicant for the award under the project name of NT MOVES (North Texas Multimodal Operations, Velocity, Efficiency and Safety Program). The total cost of the project was set at $55 million. The U.S. Department of Transportation award comes under the BUILD grants program (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development transportation discretionary grants program). The grant process was submitted and will be administered through the Regional Transportation Council of the NCTCOG.

NT MOVES improvements include 1.2 miles of double tracking from the Medical Market Center station to the Stemmons Freeway railroad bridge in Dallas, 2.4 miles of double track from Handley Ederville Road to Precinct Line Road in Tarrant County and implementation of a rail technology called Clear Path. Agencies and users will be able to use the Clear Path technology to exchange timely information on train movements to improve rail throughput, safety and on-time performance in this congested urban rail corridor.

The single-track sections to be upgraded to double-track will also include replacing or rehabilitating aging bridges that now result in speed restrictions.
“This Administration is making significant investments in infrastructure, and this $1 billion in BUILD grants will repair, rebuild, and revitalize transportation systems across America,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.  Fiscal Year 2020 BUILD Transportation grants are for planning and capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure and were awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. BUILD funding supports roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports or intermodal transportation. Since 2017, the Administration has awarded nearly $4 billion in BUILD grants to improve America’s infrastructure.