Rail Industry Targets Permitting Reform, Guaranteed Funding

By Sean Jeans-Gail | VP of Gov’t Affairs + Policy

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Senate transportation leaders convened a panel of rail industry leaders in Washington this week to discuss industry goals for the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization. Industry voices focused on streamlining federal environmental permitting processes, predictable funding, and a flexible regulatory framework that would allow railroads to use technology for safety activities traditionally performed by workers.

Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), Chair of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety, led the hearing, titled “On the Right Track: Modernizing America’s Rail.” The panel included Ian Jefferies, CEO of the Association of American Railroads; Peter Gilbertson of Anacostia Rail Holdings, on behalf of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association; Brightline senior advisor Husein Cumber; and Clarence Anthony, CEO of the National League of Cities. Amtrak was notable for its continued absence; the railroad, which is the biggest intercity carrier in the U.S. and the recipient of a plurality of rail funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), hasn’t appeared before Congress since the ouster of former CEO Stephen Gardner.

Generally, Senate Republicans focused on the freight side of the rail industry. However, some members did express interest in finding ways to increase private sector involvement in passenger rail operations in the U.S.

“Railroads are essential to moving goods across this country, especially the agricultural and energy products we rely on daily,” said Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), chair of the full committee, in a prepared statement. “There is also increasing interest in developing intercity passenger rail. We have a lot to look forward to with innovative companies like Brightline expanding the options available for passenger rail, and exciting technological advances in the freight rail industry. Whether it’s transporting people or goods, railroads must keep innovating to provide safer, more efficient service.”

Predictable Funding Levels

Promisingly, several of the panel members voiced support for predictable and dedicated funding levels for rail programs—one of the key features of the IIJA's rail title, and a policy that Rail Passengers Association is fighting to see continued in the next surface transportation bill.

“The advance appropriations provided for [the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI)] through the previous surface transportation law—$1 billion annually through FY 2026—have been transformational,” said Mr. Gilbertson. “Predictable funding allows small businesses to plan ahead, secure match funding, and complete upfront engineering work required for competitive applications. Without advance appropriations, many short lines would be unable to pursue these grants due to the uncertainty and high upfront costs involved, and CRISI funds would be less effectively spent.”

Environmental Permitting Reform

There was also a broad consensus that the current environmental review process is fundamentally broken, with too much focus on process over outcomes. Many of the panelists pointed out that they are still forced to go through multi-year review processes for projects that simply upgrade existing rail corridors or add rail service along heavily trafficked highways.

“(P)olicymakers could codify that, for rail projects whose purpose is to replace existing infrastructure on existing operating railroad right-of-way, a categorical exclusion and a finding of no significant impact are the only NEPA documentations necessary,” said Mr. Jeffries in his written testimony. “In addition, policymakers could convert to statute select executive orders on streamlining the permitting process, such as timeclocks, intermediate deadlines, and One Decision.”

Brightline’s Cumber also made the critical point that a protracted permitting process hurts the economic viability of passenger rail projects.

“[Brightline Florida was] faced with the difficult decision of whether to delay advancing construction on the entire system for a protracted and unpredictable period while the environmental process for the Orlando segment progressed or take a more proactive posture and build the first operating segment immediately upon approval, and then extend the system once the second environmental process was completed,” said Mr. Cumber. “To be sure, efficiencies in the environmental process represent enormous opportunities for time and cost savings that can change the course of the viability of these kinds of infrastructure investments.”

Questions Over Technology's Role in Operations

Class I railroads argued that potential technological advancements in the trucking industry are applying pressure on the rail industry to look at how automated technologies can be incorporated into their operations.

“[W]idespread efforts are underway today to develop autonomous motor vehicles, including autonomous trucks that would compete directly with railroads.” said Mr. Jeffries. “…This means railroads must themselves look to new technologies to make their operations safer and more efficient. The use of technology to improve safety and efficiency is nothing new for railroads, but it’s taken on a new urgency as transportation markets have evolved.”

Groups representing railroad workers have pushed back against this framing, saying new technologies need to establish a proven track record before the Federal Railroad Administration gives the green light for widespread deployment. These groups also argue that while many technologies perform some tasks better than humans, other are noticeably worse, and that many technologies are best utilized as supplementary to human-led safety processes.

Questioning Amtrak’s Existence

While the hearing took a positive outlook, overall, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) struck a sour note by trotting tired a series of tired anti-rail arguments—including a healthy dose of misinformation and ahistorical nonsense.

“Why are we even in this business?” Sen. Moreno asked. “Why are we subsidizing or owning passenger rail in America when we’re terrible at it? The government is objectively, really, really bad at running that… Why don’t we just get out of that business completely, let the private sector run it?”

It’s perhaps not surprising that the junior Senator from Ohio, who became wealthy through a network of car dealerships, didn’t have anything meaningful to add to a hearing on rail policy (he used his second round of questions to explore why U.S. automakers no longer make cheap cars for teens). But it is a particularly strange argument to make in a year when Amtrak set new ridership and revenue records.

To the panel’s credit, no one was interested in taking the bait, and Jeffries pointed out that Congress has mandated Amtrak serve corrdiors that the private sector wouldn’t be interested or able to run.

“Congress has made the decision that it also wants to provide other services that are going to be inherently money losing, and as long as that’s the point of view, then that service needs to be provided as well,” said Mr. Jeffries. “It’s probably not an either or.”

These services include long-distance trains, which connect Americans in small and rural towns—many of which are located in “Red States”—to essential services, to family, and to economic opportunity.

Sen. Moreno then raised another red herring, responding: “the only thing I’d say is that providing air travel is also a public service, but there’s no government owned airline, for good reason.”

This is factually incorrect on a number of levels:

• The government does, in fact, own an airline (quite famously!), which has spent trillions of taxpayer dollars supporting the domestic aviation industry.
• The government, through the Federal Aviation Administration, funds air traffic control of the national airspace system. This system has even been featured in the news a lot in 2025.
• The federal government spends hundreds of millions each year to subsidize air service to the small and rural communities in the U.S. as part of the Essential Air Services program (almost $600 million in 2024 alone).
• The vast majority of U.S. commercial airports are owned and operated by public entities (mainly local, regional or state authorities).

As a car guy, you’d think Sen. Moreno would at least be aware that the Highway Trust Fund has received $272 billion in general fund subsidies since 2008—a number that is expected to rise dramatically in the next surface transportation bill. However, that subsidy didn’t seem to bother the Senator from the Buckeye State.

The fact is, Amtrak was created in 1971 because private sector railroads wanted out of the passenger industry, largely in response to massive government investment in interstate highways and the aviation industry. America’s highways don’t have to make a profit, and neither should America’s railroad. Instead, we should be using investment in passenger rail strategically to create a safe, efficient, and reliable transportation network that serves ALL Americans.