The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials yesterday held a hearing to gather stakeholders' perspectives on what's needed to improve the nation's rail infrastructure. Several representatives of railroad and transportation labor organizations testified before the subcommittee members. The hearing was held as the subcommittee and committee prepare for the Trump administration's infrastructure package prop

DJ Gribbin, President Trump's infrastructure policy adviser, is departing the White House as the administration's rebuilding plan appears to have hit a wall in Congress. Gribbin, who led the Trump administration's push for an infrastructure proposal that was released in February, is "moving on to new opportunities," according to a White House official. “Since he joined the team early last year, DJ has played an important part in coordinating the Administration-wide process be

On March 29, 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a new $1.3 trillion spending package, of which $21.2 billion will be allocated for infrastructure spending. The new injection will fund the government through September 2018. The House passed the bill with a vote of 256-167 and the Senate followed suit with a vote of 65-32. Such voting trends suggest bipartisan approval of the new injection, which will be put towards a variety of projects across transportation, energ

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) today announced the list of 41 recipients of nearly $500 million in discretionary grant funding for road, transit, maritime and rail projects through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. “TIGER grants are targeted investments for our local communities that will increase safety, create jobs and modernize our country’s infrastructure,” said Secretary Elaine L. Chao. More than 64%

Ronald L. Batory was sworn in by U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao as the 14th Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. A railroad industry professional with more than 45 years of experience, Batory is widely respected, having worked successfully for small and large rail carriers across the U.S. Prior to his nomination to serve as Administrator, Batory was president & chief operating officer of Conrail, the eighth largest freight railroad in America fr

The Trump administration's plan to pay for rebuilding America's aging infrastructure comes up short by more than $1 trillion, according to a new analysis. The administration proposes having the federal government put up about $200 billion over the next 10 years in grants and other incentives to attract at total of some $1.5 trillion. Each new dollar of federal spending could actually reduce spending by state and local governments, according to analysts at the University of Pe

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Jan. 29 will begin a series of 10 public hearings on its draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed bullet train project in Texas. The first public hearing will be held in Dallas County. Others will be held in locations along the proposed route, which would extend from North Texas to Houston. The FRA is accepting comments on the DEIS until Feb. 20. The report analyzed six end-to-end build alternatives as well

It launched to a fanfare two weeks ago: the first privately funded US express passenger railway in decades, a new start for long delayed plans, and a “green” alternative to Florida’s increasingly congested highways. Yet for executives of Brightline, an ambitious $3bn venture that will eventually ferry travellers from the theme parks of Orlando to the beaches of Miami in just three hours, the champagne moment soon lost its fizz. Even before passengers left the station at Fort

When big-city mayors met in Washington last week, one of their primary messages regarding infrastructure was that the federal government should send new money directly to cities, rather than through states. The Trump administration seems open to the idea. “The folks in this room turn dirt faster than anybody in America,” New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said at a meeting on infrastructure at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ meeting last week. “We think that cities are the place

A pair of Republican state lawmakers have effectively derailed — at least for now — plans for so-called “high-speed” passenger train service between the Twin Cities and Chicago. All they needed to do was object. “It’s in effect like a one-person veto,” said Sen. Scott Newman, one of the two lawmakers who put the brakes on a vision that has been in the works since the 1990s and has, over the years, received bipartisan support. The Minnesota Department of Transportation suspend