Why It Matters
Congress faces a hard deadline. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which authorized five years of federal surface transportation programs including passenger and freight rail, expires September 30, 2026. A new Congressional Research Service report lays out how much funding Amtrak should receive, who controls train crew staffing decisions, and whether billions in advance appropriations can survive a budget-cutting Congress.
Amtrak has never turned a profit. Freight railroads largely fund themselves, but face growing complaints about service quality and cargo theft. The rail grant system built with the IIJA rests on annual appropriations, not a dedicated trust fund, making it vulnerable in ways that highway programs are not.
The Big Picture
The CRS report, dated May 22 and authored by analyst Ben Goldman, catalogs the rail-specific decisions Congress must make as part of a broader surface transportation reauthorization. A reauthorization bill, H.R. 8870, was introduced in May 2026 and addresses some of these issues, but the full scope of what Congress must resolve is considerably wider.
Amtrak Funding
Amtrak's expenses have exceeded its revenues every year it has operated, making Congressional appropriations essential to its survival. The IIJA authorized $19.2 billion for Amtrak over five years and provided $22 billion in advance multiyear appropriations, a notable increase over the prior FAST Act. Amtrak has stated a goal of operational self-sufficiency by the end of fiscal year 2028, which could reshape the funding debate. If that goal is achieved, Congress could argue for reducing authorized amounts, holding them level, or shifting more dollars toward capital projects rather than operating costs.
Amtrak has argued that predictable, multiyear funding creates "significant, quantifiable cost savings and efficiencies in service planning, operations, and capital delivery." Capital projects such as bridge and tunnel replacements as well as locomotive procurements span multiple years. Uncertainty about future funding can cause Amtrak to delay work, which the report notes could increase costs later.
Discretionary Grant Programs
Beyond Amtrak, the IIJA authorized $15.3 billion and provided $44 billion in advance appropriations across five competitive grant programs. The Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail program alone received $36 billion in advance appropriations. The Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement program, which funds a wide range of freight and passenger projects, received $5 billion in advance appropriations and an additional $1.695 billion through annual appropriations.
Unlike highway and transit programs, rail programs do not receive contract authority from the Highway Trust Fund. That structural difference means every dollar for rail must run through the annual appropriations process, where it is subject to rescission or reprogramming before being formally obligated to a project. The report flags that the House appropriations bill H.R. 4552 in the 119th Congress would have funded Amtrak in fiscal year 2026 by raiding the Federal-State Partnership grant program rather than providing a new appropriation. Congress did not retain that language in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, but it did repurpose certain unexpended advance appropriations from prior years, a sign of the fiscal pressure these programs face.
Safety Issues
Two safety debates stand out. The first involves blocked highway-rail crossings. The IIJA directed the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to build a public portal to collect blocked crossing data, but the report notes the crowdsourced data may not accurately reflect which crossings are chronically blocked or most disruptive. Congress could require railroads to install sensors at crossings to generate more reliable data, though the report acknowledges that requirement could be viewed as an unfunded mandate by track owners.
The second involves train crew size. The FRA issued a final rule in April 2024 requiring a minimum of two crew members on most trains, with narrow exceptions. Bills including H.R. 928 and H.R. 971 in the 119th Congress would codify that minimum in statute. Congress could also go the other direction and direct FRA to repeal the rule, leaving crew size to collective bargaining between railroads and labor organizations.
Freight Rail Industry Issues
The report covers four freight-specific concerns. On rate disputes, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) can set maximum prices only when a railroad is market dominant and cannot initiate its own rate inquiries. The process for challenging a rate is expensive and slow. A federal court struck down STB's "final offer rate review" arbitration method as unconstitutional in 2025, eliminating one of the few accessible alternatives to full-scale litigation.
On car service compensation rates, the report notes that some railcar manufacturers contend the current system keeps compensation artificially low, suppressing investment in new railcar production. This is particularly acute for boxcars, a large share of which are approaching end of service life without replacements in production.
On mergers, STB applies a "public interest" standard rather than traditional antitrust principles. A 2015 Transportation Research Board study recommended transferring merger review authority to antitrust agencies, reasoning that the rationale for the public interest standard, namely excess rail capacity, no longer applies. STB itself has stated that "excess and duplicative capacity are no longer problems."
On cargo theft, reports of theft from freight trains have grown since 2020. Federal jurisdiction is fragmented across the FBI, Postal Inspection Service, DEA, and TSA, with no single agency holding clear responsibility. One Class I railroad reported in February 2026 that it had reduced cargo theft in its Memphis corridor through fencing, surveillance equipment, and operational changes to avoid prolonged stoppages in high-risk areas.
Political Stakes
For the Administration
The reauthorization is a test of how aggressively it pursues spending reductions in infrastructure. The IIJA's advance appropriations are technically vulnerable to rescission before being obligated, and the administration's broader posture toward federal spending creates real uncertainty about whether those funds survive intact. The crew size rule, issued under the prior administration, is another pressure point. The administration could direct FRA to repeal or weaken it, and the reauthorization bill could become a vehicle for that effort or a vehicle to stop it.
For Republicans
Fiscal conservatives will push to reduce Amtrak's subsidy and question whether long-distance routes with low ridership justify continued federal support. Others, particularly those representing rural communities where Amtrak's National Network provides the only intercity passenger rail option, face constituent pressure to preserve service.
For Democrats
The stakes center on protecting the IIJA's rail investment system. The advance appropriations model, the discretionary grant programs, and the crew size rule all represent Biden-era priorities that the current Congress could unwind. Democrats will also push to codify the two-person crew minimum to insulate it from administrative rollback.
For the Public
The most immediate stakes are service reliability and safety. Blocked crossings affect communities across the country. Cargo theft raises costs that can ripple through supply chains. And Amtrak's funding stability directly determines whether long-distance and state-supported routes continue to operate.
The Bottom Line
Congress has until September 30, 2026, to act. Rail reauthorization covers Amtrak's funding level; the survival of five discretionary grant programs; safety mandates for train crews and grade crossings; and the regulatory framework governing freight railroads. Rail programs rely on annual appropriations rather than a dedicated trust fund, and that dynamic has already led Congress to consider raiding one program to fund another.
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