U.S. passenger rail—including Amtrak, regional commuter lines, and urban transit systems—facilitates roughly 4.5 billion trips annually, serving millions of commuters and travelers across the nation. While the federal shutdown may have stalled some appropriated transportation projects, much of the nation’s rail infrastructure was already in poor condition long before.
The rail network infrastructure—including bridges, tunnels, stations, and signaling systems—was built over a century ago and suffers from deferred maintenance. Major commuter rail systems in cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco face similar challenges: aging rolling stock, deteriorating guideways, and outdated stations and power systems. Urban transit rail networks—including subways and light rail in cities from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.—also contend with decades-old tunnels, elevated structures, and signaling equipment. Across the country, these conditions contribute to slower travel, limited capacity, and heightened risk.
President “Amtrak Joe” Biden promised to fix the nation’s rail infrastructure with billions of dollars in funding from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. Four years later, progress is limited. Amtrak continues to run an annual deficit of roughly $700 million and key projects—including critical bridge repairs—remain unfinished and most not begun.
What happened? Rather than disperse the appropriated money to make the needed repairs and upgrades for passenger rail, the Biden Administration pursued symbolic safety –as it relates to the much safer and healthier freight rail sector. Why? To placate Big Labor.
Look no further than the previous Administration’s two-person crew rule, likely an illegal rule requiring two operators in the cabs of increasingly technological freight trains. Courts have confirmed that agencies responsible for rail safety must act as regulatory entities, not labor organizations, a point raised in oral arguments in a suit against the FRA earlier this year.
Indeed, the situation highlights stark differences between aging public rail infrastructure, well-maintained private freight tracks, and areas of shared congestion. Much of the publicly owned or legacy infrastructure, particularly passenger corridors, dates back decades and suffers from slower speeds and deferred maintenance due to limited funding and bureaucratic constraints. In contrast, privately owned freight railroads invest heavily in news tracks, signaling systems, and safety technologies, optimizing for heavy loads and operational efficiency. Challenges arise in corridors where private and public systems overlap or where freight and passenger trains share tracks, creating congestion, operational delays, and a mismatch between the capabilities of modern freight infrastructure and the aging, high-traffic sections of the network.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy highlighted the record on rail safety under the Biden–Buttigieg administration: years of delays, more than 3,200 unfulfilled grants, and communities waiting for upgrades that should have been completed long ago. This backlog is not merely bureaucratic—it has real impacts on Americans and the economy. Florida’s Brightline shuttling some 3 million people between Tampa, Orlando and Miami each year, only recently received promised fencing, grade-crossing upgrades, and trespassing prevention measures, years after they were first pledged.
Fortunately, the Trump Administration is moving quickly on rail infrastructure, focusing on revitalizing existing systems and integrating advanced technologies. The Department of Transportation (DOT) under President Trump has taken over New York’s Penn Station and Union Station in Washington, D.C., with the goal of addressing cleanliness, crime, and restoring these stations. Transportation Secretary Duffy is working to clear the grant backlog for rail upgrades.
While speed and action are welcome after 4 years of statis, restoring overdue resources is only part of the solution. Regulatory processes must also allow adoption of proven technologies, such as Automated Track Inspection (ATI), which remains under limited use due to an outstanding waiver request. ATI employs modern sensors to detect track defects that human inspectors can miss, identifying potential hazards before they cause derailments. Railroads have invested in the technology, and data show its effectiveness. Approving the expanded use is not bureaucratic nuance but a practical step to enhance rail safety, and the Trump DOT need only approve the waiver.
America’s freight and passenger rail networks need a 21st-century safety framework. The Biden–Buttigieg era left critical projects unfinished and perpetuated obsolescence. The Trump–Duffy DOT can accelerate modernization, deploy technology like ATI, and deliver tangible safety improvements for all Americans.
