FRA Awards Inaugural IRC Grants

The Southern Rail Commission is one of three entities receiving funding through the FRA’s Interstate Rail Compacts (IRC) Grant Program to advance passenger rail.

Three entities will share $900,000 in Interstate Rail Compacts (IRC) Grant Program funding from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to help improve and expand passenger rail networks in the Midwest, South and Southeast.

Created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the IRC Program provides “new opportunities to entities implementing IRCs to advance multi-state and regional passenger rail service efforts,” FRA reported March 14.

IRCs are agreements or compacts passed into law by two or more states that support and facilitate the development of multi-state and regional intercity passenger rail services, according to FRA. “Member states of an IRC can implement the agreement through a commission that is empowered to carry out the necessary planning, administration and coordination needed to run a passenger rail service,” it explained. “This process allows entities in an IRC to streamline their activities and advance a unified approach to solving regional passenger rail issues.”

This inaugural round of IRC Program grants will improve passenger rail service for large swaths of the Midwest, South, and Southeast, including many states and communities that have never seen passenger rail service or that have had previous services discontinued for years, FRA said.

The IRC Program allows awardees to use grant funding for administrative, planning and marketing activities that FRA said will facilitate an IRC’s goals, such as information technology, accounting, and human resources, as well as obtaining technical staff or contractor support to prepare grant applications for federal programs. Funding can also be used to facilitate operations coordination activities “to help achieve better passenger rail services on corridors with shared freight rail operations, and to create and disseminate marketing materials that will spread awareness of the availability of new services,” according to the federal agency, which noted that by supporting these needs, the IRC Program “helps to ensure that IRCs have the funding needed for non-capital project activities while also being able to expand their organizational capacity.”

The three entities that received Fiscal Year 2022-23 IRC Program funding are:

1. Illinois – MIPRC (Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission) Expansion Project: MIPRC will use the proposed grant of up to $300,000 for activities such as administration, promotion of intercity passenger rail operations, and preparation of competitive federal grant program applications. According to FRA, the project will help MIPRC increase efforts to advocate for and support the development and implementation of a passenger rail network in the Midwest region. MIPRC will provide a 50% non-federal match.
2. Louisiana – SRC (Southern Rail Commission) Rail-Ready Project: Building Capacity to Expand Passenger Rail across the American South: SRC will use the proposed grant of up to $400,000 for activities such as administration, promotion of intercity passenger rail operations, operations coordination, and preparation of competitive federal grant program applications. The project will help SRC “build its organizational capacity to continue to support the expansion of intercity passenger rail service in the Southeast region,” FRA said. SRC will provide a 50% non-federal match.
3. North Carolina – VA-NC Compact Administration & Southeast Rail Network Analysis Project: The North Carolina Department of Transportation on behalf of the Virginia – North Carolina Interstate High-Speed Rail Compact Commission (VA-NC HSR Compact) will use the proposed grant of up to $200,000 for administration and system planning activities to complete the Southeast Rail Network Analysis. The project “will help advance efforts to improve the fluidity of the Southeast rail network to benefit both passenger and freight rail,” FRA reported. The North Carolina DOT and Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, entities that operate the VA-NC HSR Compact, will contribute funds totaling a 50% non-federal match.

“As funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law advances transformative rail projects in communities around the country, FRA is supporting all elements needed for new passenger rail services, from planning and development to the implementation of service,” FRA Administrator Amit Bose said during the March 14 announcement. “The Interstate Rail Compacts Grant Program fills a vital need by providing entities implementing interstate rail compacts with the resources to build up an organizational and human infrastructure for the fluid operation of new services that will meet the needs of local communities.”

“The Interstate Rail Compacts Program funding has the power to shape not only the Southern Rail Commission’s operations, but also the future of passenger rail service across the Gulf South,” SRC Chairman Knox Ross said. “These dollars will support expanded operations, allowing us to dedicate additional time and resources to the development of comprehensive and successful passenger rail corridors. We are extremely grateful to our partners at the local, state, and federal level who continue to champion the Southern Rail Commission, advocate for funding and opportunities, and help our commission move the needle.”

The FRA announced the IRC Program in 2022 when it sought input on how the program could best support existing IRCs “so they are able to take a more central role in advancing the development of intercity passenger rail service.” Applications were due July 1, 2023.

Further Reading:

• FRA L-D Study: Two Outreach Issues
• FRA Announces Fed-State National Program, Corridor ID Selections
• FRA Awards $16.4B for NEC Projects