Rail industry begins to react to election results

WASHINGTON — Like the nation at large, the rail industry is still digesting Tuesday’s election results and considering what it might mean. New Democratic majorities in the House and Senate could reshape legislative priorities and make possible the revival of funding that ended in September with the expiration of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association saw its members benefit from expanded funding for Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement grants under the IIJA. The organization will not wait for the new legislators to arrive as it pursues its goals, ASLRRA President Chuck Baker said in a statement to Trains.

“ASLRRA is looking forward to working with both sides of the aisle in the upcoming 120th Congress on issues the American public cares about — growing the economy and lowering the cost of living,” Baker said. “Short lines assist in both of those areas — by providing access to national markets for the shippers they serve and keeping consumer prices low by providing a safe, cost-effective, fuel efficient, reliable, high-capacity freight transportation option.

“Throughout the coming lame duck session of Congress and into the next Congress, we will be working to ensure that every member of Congress knows how to help railroads achieve these public priorities – by providing a transportation reauthorization bill that supports all transportation infrastructure investment with guaranteed funding, by modernizing the 45G tax credit to reflect today’s infrastructure costs across all short lines, by maintaining the current maximum limits on the size and weight of large trucks operating on public interstates, and by ensuring that rail regulations allow for technology innovations that can improve safety and service, and that those regulations can be affordably implemented by small business railroads.”

Similarly, the Transportation Construction Coalition, which represents builder associations and unions with an interest in federal transportation programs, is urging the 119th Congress to provide funding not included in the continuing resolution passed in September.

“The Transportation Construction Coalition looks forward to working with the incoming Congress to modernize America’s transportation networks and stimulate local economies,” the organization said in a statement. “But important work remains for the current Congress.

“When Congress returns to Washington, lawmakers have an urgent responsibility before the Dec. 11 deadline: restore advance appropriations programs and pass a multi-year transportation reauthorization bill. The current funding lapse puts critical infrastructure upgrades and repairs at risk. States and communities need funding and certainty to plan projects, keep workers on the job, and deliver safer, more reliable roads, bridges, and transit systems.”

Among programs not currently funded are the National Infrastructure Project Assistance Program, or MEGA grant, which previously made $1.8 billion available for rail, highway, and port projects, the group notes.

The Rail Passengers Association anticipates the Democratic Senate “should be more amenable to robust — and dedicated — funding for rail and transit programs,” writes Sean Jeans-Gail, the RPA’s vice president of policy and government affairs, in a post on the organization’s website.

He notes that Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), in position to become chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, recently released a report noting that funding for rail programs would decrease by 83% if the advance appropriations of the IIJA are not renewed. “This kind of clear-eyed assessment … is a welcome addition to the surface transportation reauthorization discussion,” Jeans-Gail writes. He also says that the incoming leadership has indicated it will “rein in some of the more imperial habits demonstrated by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy,” who has withheld or canceled previously approved funding.

Reactions in New York

Also considering funding under a Democratically controlled Congress was Janno Lieber, CEO of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He said during a Thursday radio interview that more funding should be in the offing, and that could be particularly true for New York.

Noting the agency’s funding fights with the Trump Administration, Lieber told public broadcaster WNYC that with three New York legislators potentially in key leadership roles, “we are hopeful that we can do much, much better than that historical short-changing.” Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jefferies are in position to lead their respective houses of Congress given their current status as minority leaders, while Sen. Kristen Gillibrand is likely to lead the Appropriations Committee.

“I think we have more confidence that the existing projects will be funded, and we would like to now start pursuing money for new big projects,” Lieber said.

Others in New York are wondering what the election results will mean for the Donald Trump-driven project to redevelop New York’s Penn Station. The West Side Spirit newspaper reports that Andy Byford, who is leading the project, said in a statement that the election results will not change the project.

“We will still be delivering a world-class Penn Station to New York City,” said Byford, the special advisor to the Amtrak board of directors and former New York City Transit president.

But residents have criticized the lack of transparency for the project, which saw a master developer selected in May with little opportunity for public comment [see “DOT, Amtrak select …,” Trains.com, May 20, 2026]. Officials are now hoping that will change, the Spirit reports.

“We have an opportunity to bring greater accountability and oversight to this project and protect the interests of New York taxpayers and transit riders,” said Tony Simone, the state assembly member representing the station area. Simone spokesman Jacob Golden told the Spirit, “We anticipate congressional oversight hearings on all kinds of things and a multi-billion dollar project like this should definitely be on that list.”

A spokesman for Penn Transformation Partners, the master developer, told the Spirit that the project “is a nonpartisan priority with the aligned support of the Trump administration, Gov. [Kathy] Hochul, and NJ Transit. We will continue to work with all stakeholders and policymakers to deliver improvements at historic scale and on an expedited timeline.”