2 weeks Ago
COLORADO, USA — Colorado is getting tens of millions of dollars in federal funding to help improve rail transportation and safety infrastructure in the state. State leaders announced on Tuesday that the state received $66.4 million in grant funding from the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The state is matching almost $28 million from its IIJA match fund to improve safety on the BNSF line north of Denver. The money will also help the state proactively prepare for passenger rail service. “Today’s grant will make freight rail traffic in some of our busiest growing communities safer quickly while providing critical building blocks for Passenger Rail.
This major funding will help achieve important priorities like complying with longstanding federal standards and improving the safety of rail crossings, which can be the sites of dangerous incidents,” Governor Jared Polis said. The grant to improve the BNSF Front Range Subdivision is one of four Colorado projects to receive CRISI awards. Colorado State University-Pueblo was awarded almost $12 million to enhance the ability to test hydrogen and compressed natural gas advanced technology trains at the FRA Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo.
San Luis Central Railway and Omnitrax were awarded funds to replace ties to increase safety and reduce maintenance costs for short lines in rural Colorado. In December 2023, Front Range Passenger Rail was included in the Federal Rail Administration’s Corridor Identification and Development program, which brought additional federal support for Colorado ahead of Tuesday’s grant award..
