FREIGHT RAIL WASHINGTON OUTLOOK, RAILWAY AGE FEBRUARY 2026 ISSUE: Federal oversight and investment top the list of Washington issues beyond UP-NS, but tech policy also merits scrutiny in this midterm election year.
House and Senate Appropriations Committee Leaders on Jan. 20 unveiled H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, which represented a “bipartisan, bicameral” agreement on Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 appropriations legislation. The legislation
Construction on the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP), a key component of the Gateway Program, will “pause if disbursements of federal funds do not resume in the coming days,” the Gateway Development Commission
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) system-wide ridership decreases 1% in November. Also, STV’s Quantico Station Improvement Project wins an American Council of Engineering Companies of Virginia (ACEC Virginia) Grand Award; Governor Kathy Hochul vetoes a bill that would require two-person crews on the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) subway trains; and Amtrak and Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) leaders approve an agreement to restore federal control of the facility.
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Dec. 19 issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that makes $33 million in funding available for the Department’s University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program and aims to “advance transportation science and innovation to solve for tomorrow’s problems today.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Dec. 15 announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) through Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grants for Fiscal Year 2026 that makes $1.5 billion available for infrastructure projects across the country.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Dec. 11 reported that more than 18,000 frontline Amtrak workers will each receive a $900 bonus “to celebrate a record year of ridership and revenue.”
Amtrak’s newest service, the Mardi Gras, is seeing strong demand. Also, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is taking delivery of 10 leased coaches from MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter Rail); Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) promotes Alan Lehto to Executive Director of Planning, a newly created position; New Jersey Transit (NJT) earns the 2025 Combating Human Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award; Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) considers advertising installations in subway tunnels; and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Keolis Commuter Services (Keolis) release a year-in-review report.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has selected 15 semi-finalist teams to advance to the next stage of its Ideas Challenge to “enhance America’s infrastructure, improve safety, and cut costs for the Department.” The MetaRE Inc.-Arup team was the only one with a rail-specific project.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) on Oct. 30 reported reaching three “key” milestones for the Penn Station New York “Transformation” Project, “keeping construction on track to break ground by the end of 2027.”
