More than $75 million in federal funding is headed to seven rail infrastructure projects scattered across Indiana, covering everything from aging track beds in LaPorte County to brand-new diesel locomotives rolling on short lines statewide. The money comes through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program, and it touches freight corridors, grade crossings, bridges and equipment that Hoosier rail operators have been eyeing for years.
Where the Money Is Headed
According to WSBT, more than $75 million in federal funding has been awarded to seven rail infrastructure projects across Indiana, with the funding coming from the U.S. Transportation Department. The Federal Railroad Administration confirmed the selection of seven Indiana rail projects for up to $75 million through the CRISI program, as reported by 21Alive. INDOT Southeast shared the news on Facebook this week, describing the haul as nearly $76 million in CRISI grant funds for freight and passenger rail improvements.
One of the larger awards is heading to northern Indiana. The Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad was awarded up to $6.9 million for track improvements between Union Mills and LaCrosse in LaPorte County, according to the public radio station's report, while a report from Railway Track and Structures put the same project's award at $6.8 million for what it called the Northwest Indiana Rail Connectivity and Expansion Project. Either way, the work plans to replace ties, rehabilitate bridges, renew grade crossings and build a mile of new siding, per the same account from WVPE.
Short Lines and New Locomotives
South Shore Freight is also in line for help, with a $2.9 million grant that will go toward replacing ties and rehabilitating switches and grade crossings, the station notes. WSBT, meanwhile, reported that the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad line was awarded more than $2.8 million to rehabilitate train tracks in the region — a figure that doesn't quite match WVPE's number for what appears to be the same award.
Patriot Rail, which owns the Elkhart & Western short line, landed one of the biggest single pieces of the pie: up to $15.2 million for 26 diesel locomotives serving 15 of its short lines statewide, per the same WVPE report. The FRA says those upgrades will improve safety, performance and reliability across the affected networks.
A 12-Mile Rehab in Wells, Huntington and Grant Counties
Further east, the New Era Railroad State of Good Repair and Safety Improvement project is set to receive up to $3,195,432 for work spanning Wells, Huntington and Grant counties, according to 21Alive, whose reporting tied the award to Sen. Mike Braun's and Sen. Jim Banks' office. The project will rehabilitate approximately 12 miles of track, replace ties, add ballast and rehabilitate two at-grade crossings, the outlet reported. Officials say they hope the improvements will make the lines safer and more reliable, WSBT added in its coverage.
Part of a Much Larger National Push
Indiana's haul is a slice of a much bigger federal effort. The 2026 CRISI round awarded $2.3 billion to 105 freight and passenger rail projects across 45 states and the District of Columbia, according to Railway Track and Structures. Those 105 projects were chosen from 368 applications seeking a total of $12.2 billion, per a report from Trains, and 87 of the projects, with awards totaling $1.885 billion, went to short lines — underscoring how much of this round's money is aimed at smaller regional and freight carriers rather than major national railroads.
Trains also reported that this was the final round of CRISI funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, combining fiscal-year 2025 and 2026 dollars into a single selection cycle. That makes Indiana's seven awards part of the last wave of grants tied to the 2021 law before any future funding would need new congressional authorization.
Building on Indiana's 2024 Rail Grants
This isn't the first time Indiana rail has benefited from the CRISI pipeline. In November 2024, Indiana rail lines received almost $40 million in federal CRISI grants for projects across the state, according to 95.3 MNC. Those earlier projects included replacing the North Muscatatuck River Bridge in Jefferson County and improving the historic Fourteenth Street Bridge in Clarksville, the station reported, as part of a $2.4 billion program that funded Federal Railroad Administration projects in 41 states and Washington, D.C. at the time.
