Amtrak will provide $3 million in matching funds required to complete a $16 million Transportation Investment Generating Recovery (TIGER) grant for the rehabilitation of the Southwest Chief line that was awarded in early 2018 as part of the FY17 award round.
The grant was awarded to Colfax County, N.M., for work to upgrade BNSF-owned rail. The more than $26 million project will replace 60-year old bolted rail, as well as the associated turnouts and crossings on the La Junta subdivision between Hutchinson, Kan., and Las Animas, Colo. The project will also replace older crossties along a 200-mile section of line between Lamy, N.M., and Trinidad, Colo. Additionally, the grant will fund improvements to New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail route including the replacement of the signaling system, replacement of a damaged culvert, replacement of a half-mile of track along the Devil's Throne Curve, as well as the installation of a rock slide fence and warning signal at the same location.
Amtrak, citing declining ridership and significant ongoing capital investment, had considered not honoring the match required of the grant and instead proposed the possibility of running long distances buses. The plan was widely panned with some of its most vocal opponents from a bipartisan coalition of U.S. Senators from New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas.
The FY 2019 Appropriations Act signed into law in February 2019 included $50 million to be applied toward the Southwest Chief route. Amtrak will use $3 million of the appropriations to match the grant.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) said, “Local communities whose residents and businesses depend on Amtrak should be provided the stability of rail service that the Southwest Chief has delivered to them for decades, which is why I am pleased that Amtrak has upheld its commitment to repair, improve and continue the Southwest Chief rail line. I appreciate my colleagues from New Mexico and Colorado and our bipartisan efforts to keep this line in service.”
Amtrak explains that community discussions with BNSF Railway regarding needed route safety and other infrastructure improvements began in 2011. Since then, more than $80 million has been committed from U.S. DOT grant programs, state and local governments, Amtrak and BNSF.
Amtrak notes it will use the newly available federal capital funding from the FY19 appropriations bill in coordination with these stakeholders to continue needed work on the next route segment in New Mexico. Amtrak is also working on a long-term financial plan with its state and local partners to address the unique challenges of this route, particularly where Amtrak is the only user of the BNSF tracks in Colorado and New Mexico.
