The Federal Railroad Administration unveiled the FY 2025-2026 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program grant recipients this week, awarding $2.34 billion in funding across 105 projects. While most of the funding went to freight rail infrastructure, several notable projects directly support existing or future intercity passenger rail service by improving capacity, reliability, and safety.
Passenger Rail Focused Investments
Hiawatha West Extension (Wisconsin) - Up to $218.2 million
The largest passenger rail grant was awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to extend the existing Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha service westward to Pewaukee, Watertown, and Madison. The project includes track, bridge, and crossing improvements, expanded corridor capacity, and construction of new intercity passenger stations.
Adding this service has been a longtime goal for Midwestern advocates. Wisconsin was awarded $810 million in federal funding in 2010 to develop higher-speed rail between Milwaukee and Madison—an investment that would have transformed mobility across the state. That funding was ultimately rejected by Republican Governor Scott Walker, who made killing the train a key part of his campaign for governor, using the project as a symbolic act of defiance against the Obama Administration. The decision killed not only the train, but ultimately led equipment manufacturer Talgo to shutter a Milwaukee-based intercity passenger rail manufacturing facility, leaving Wisconsin’s taxpayers on the hook for a $50 million settlement for two trainsets that were originally intended for the service.
Sixteen years later, this CRISI grant will finally correct Governor Walker’s folly, closing an important gap in the Midwest passenger network.
Springfield Rail Hub Modernization (Massachusetts) - Up to $130.1 million
This project modernizes critical infrastructure around Springfield Union Station through interlocking reconstruction, track reconfiguration, and signal improvements. By eliminating a significant rail chokepoint, the project will reduce conflicts between passenger and freight trains, improve reliability, and shorten travel times for rail passengers throughout New England.
Amtrak Northeast Corridor Fencing Program (Rhode Island and Maryland) - Up to $27.2 million National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) will install approximately 50,000 feet of security fencing along segments of the Northeast Corridor. The project is intended to reduce trespassing-related incidents, fatalities, and service disruptions on the nation’s busiest passenger rail corridor.
Projects Supporting Future Passenger Service
Baton Rouge-New Orleans Corridor Improvements (Louisiana) - Up to $5.8 million
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will replace aging railroad bridges between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. While primarily a freight reliability project, FRA notes that the improvements will help support potential future intercity passenger rail service in the corridor, a corridor the Southern Rail Commission is working to advance to the construction phase.