The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is responsible for the safety and development of the critical rail infrastructure of the United States. As part of each year’s budget, the federal government requests funds for the FRA to invest in their rail infrastructure, safety, and development projects.
In this blog we will explore the 2025 funds requested for the FRA and how they will be used to support rail infrastructure.
In this article we’ll cover:
The Federal Railroad Administration
The FRA is responsible for ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods along the rail networks. Unlike the Surface Transportation Board (STB), who regulates the economic aspects of freight rail (including mergers, rates, and disputes), the FRA focuses on rail safety and development. The FRA also administers a broad portfolio of grants aimed at improving the safety and condition of rail infrastructure while improving performance of operations.
In 2025 $3.20 billion has been requested for the FRA, including $2.50 billion for Amtrak grants, $350.00 million for discretionary rail grants, $293.97 million for the Safety and Operations account, and $52.00 million for the Research and Development account. This allocation aims to support various areas within the organization and builds on the investments initially made possible by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program
The rail shipping industry has successfully pursued improvements in safety and over the course of decades of focused implementation has shown a drastic reduction in accidents. However, incidents such as the freight derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, serve as a reminder that the rail industry is not yet accident free. Safety can always continue to be a focus, no matter how much rail infrastructure has improved.
2025 funds addressed to the FRA include providing assistance to states, railroads, local communities, and rail infrastructure stakeholders. This includes $250 million requested for the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program, which will fund grade crossing improvements, trespass prevention initiatives, and other projects to improve railroad safety.
The CRISI program will also play an important role in investing in rail infrastructure that strengthens the supply chains of American shippers. The United States’ rail transportation network is critical to the health of the economy, shipping around 1.5 billion tons of raw materials and finished goods in an average year. American businesses’ ability to compete in an increasingly competitive global marketplace depends on the investments into state and local governments, short line railroads, and other contributors to the American rail network.
Funding requested for the CRISI program will also prioritize addressing the critical safety and quality of life concerns that rail transportation can impose on communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. These communities have historically been marred by decades of failed land-use policies and under-investment. Personnel resources, programming funding, and policy proposals will all work to build a more equitable rail transportation system and workforce. As part of their 2025 measures, the FRA proposes to reduce statutory cost-sharing requirements for underserved and historically disadvantaged communities under their competitive grant programs.
Climate and Sustainability Program
The FRA has developed a multi-faceted Climate and Sustainability Program centered on three primary focus areas:
- Reducing Emissions.
- Building Resilient Rail Infrastructure.
- Fostering a Sustainable Rail Network.
For 2025 and beyond, the FRA will focus on initiatives to progress each of these focus areas.
This includes funding grant programs that will help divert freight from more carbon-intensive transportation modes to rail, developing engineering standards to inform resilient infrastructure investments that can withstand the impacts of severe weather, and analyzing the environmental impacts of major investments being advanced through IIJA.
BNSF Rail Infrastructure
The BNSF railway has announced its $3.8 billion capital investment plan for 2025, aiming to maintain a safe and reliable network while meeting customer needs.
The largest component of the plan, amounting to $2.84 billion, is allocated for maintenance activities, focusing on track upkeep, signal system maintenance, and infrastructure enhancements for their network. This includes replacing and upgrading rail, track infrastructure, and rolling stock. The plan will cover 11,400 miles of track surfacing and undercutting work, as well as the replacement of 2.5 million rail ties and 410 miles of rail.
In addition, $535 million of the plan is designated for expansion and efficiency projects, adding to the over $2.6 billion invested in expansion projects over the past five years. Major facility projects include a multi-year intermodal facility expansion at BNSF’s Cicero Intermodal Facility in Chicago, property acquisitions for the Barstow International Gateway project in California and constructing approximately 20 miles of third main line track near Needles, California.
Norfolk Southern Rail Infrastructure
The NS has completed $1 billion worth of infrastructure improvements in 2024. The projects were completed throughout Norfolk Southern’s 22-state network, focusing on safety infrastructure, track, bridges, and structures.
The company completed an array of projects, including 5 Digital Train Inspection portals, 313 grade crossing protection warning systems, 130 hot box/bearing detectors, 17 acoustic bearing detectors, 29 hot wheel detectors, 140 public improvement projects, 558 track miles of rail replaced, 2.1 million cross ties installed, 4,202 miles of track surfaced, 30,480 bridge ties replaced, 553 panel turnouts installed, 43 bridges replaced, 78 bridges structurally rehabilitated, 104 culverts installed, 23 signal cut-ins completed, 180 switch machines replaced, 869 CTC to ITCMS cut-ins completed, 3 classification yard speed controllers replaced, and 3 moveable bridge PLC system upgrades.
The 2025 budget request for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) highlights significant federal investments aimed at enhancing the U.S. rail infrastructure, focusing on safety, sustainability, and community support. Additionally, major rail companies like BNSF and Norfolk Southern are also investing heavily in infrastructure.
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