MIPRC promotes passenger rail programs, funding on Capitol Hill

A delegation of 17 Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission Commissioners, staff and representatives from member state departments of transportation spent two days in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, visiting with Midwestern Members of Congress and officials from Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration to discuss passenger rail funding and federal surface transportation reauthorization legislation.

The visit came just two weeks after the U.S. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee introduced, marked up and reported out its surface transportation reauthorization bill, the Build America 250 Act (H.R. 8870).

In more than 30 meetings with U.S. representatives and senators, along with their staff, MIPRC delegates thanked Congress for passage of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act of 2021, which continued or established passenger rail grant programs that have benefitted MIPRC states – and the organization itself.

(In 2024, MIPRC was awarded a $300,000 Interstate Rail Compacts grant, which enabled the compact to augment its work, and a $1.84 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements (CRISI) planning grant to advance and expand upon the 2021 Midwest Regional Rail Plan.)

As the IIJA expires on Sept. 30, MIPRC delegates also communicated MIPRC’s surface transportation reauthorization principles  and stressed that the final new reauthorization law – whether the Build America 250 Act reported by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee or another bill – should provide predictable and sustainable funding for passenger rail programs.

Such funding is also key to replacing aging rolling stock and adding capacity both for new routes and increased frequencies of existing services.

MIPRC delegates also stressed the importance of the Corridor Identification & Development program to member states, which has 20 of the 67 total projects accepted in the program’s initial round of submissions. MIPRC’s Corridor ID flyer handed out during the meetings illustrated how the program is building out the Midwest Regional Rail Plan.

As of mid-June, the BUILD America 250 Act is awaiting a vote by the full House of Representatives while surface transportation reauthorization is pending in the Senate. MIPRC will follow progress of legislation in both chambers through 2026.