Late in the week of May 9, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced the new Corridor Identification and Development Program, which will establish a pipeline of ready-to-be-funded projects to expand passenger-rail service in inner-city areas throughout the US. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), made the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak, and included $1.8 billion for the corridor identification and development program. The new corridor identification program "will strengthen the partnerships and project pipeline necessary to reshape America's passenger-rail network for generations to come," said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. Parties that are eligible to submit proposals are Amtrak, states, groups of states, entities implementing interstate compacts, regional passenger-rail authorities, regional planning organizations, political subdivisions of a state, federal recognized Indian Tribes, and possibly other entities. The FRA will solicit formal proposals for the program this year. 

On May 6, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced it was proposing a temporary transitional waiver of the Buy America requirements for federally funded construction projects. USDOT is seeking public comment on the waiver, that became effective May 14 and expires November 10. The waiver would give state and local entities, transit agencies, contractors, and other stakeholders time to begin the compliance process. The Buy America requirements were introduced with IIJA, and requires all federally funded projects to use American-made materials in order to spur domestic production. Suppliers are encouraged to inform USDOT of sufficient domestic availability of construction materials to help shorten the transition time or narrow its applicability to encourage local and domestic sourcing. 

On April 18, the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) announced it had approved CSX’s purchase of Pan Am Railways. CSX’s purchase of Pan Am Railways, a regional railroad in the northeastern United States, will expand CSX’s 23-state network into Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. It will also add to CSX’s existing network in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. The STB said the deal would improve Pan Am’s rail network due to CSX’s capital expenditure capability and that customers will benefit from being able to ship their goods through a region on a single carrier. Pan Am is expected to become part of CSX on June 1. 

On May 12, the House Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials held a hearing titled ‘Board Member views on Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization.’ This hearing was an opportunity for the STB to give an update on some of the things they discussed during the April 25 and 26 hearings on recent rail service problems and recovery efforts involving the Class I carriers. Surface Transportation Board Chair Martin Oberman said during the hearing that what he referred to as a “severe crisis in service” among Class I Freight railroads needs a strong federal response.

Oberman also discussed and answered questions from Members of Congress on reciprocal switching and highlighted the upcoming service recovery plans that freight railroads would soon be required to submit to the STB. In particular, Chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) pressed Oberman and other STB members on how the industry is at an inflection point and expressed frustration with the Class Is for ignoring common carrier and federal mandates to maintain effective railroad networks and sufficient capital investments. In addition, Oberman mentioned that the STB is in the process of establishing a new office to handle its new responsibility to enforce passenger rail on time performance. Also discussed during the question and answer portion of the hearing was whether or not the upcoming STB reauthorization would impact the board’s ability to function. Oberman and the other STB members reassured the Subcommittee that they had the resources they needed to operate effectively, even with the reauthorization of the STB on the horizon.