FY24 Northeast Corridor Cooperative Agreement to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation | FR AMT 24 007

Opportunity Information: Apply for FR AMT 24 007

The FY24 Northeast Corridor Cooperative Agreement to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Funding Opportunity Number FR AMT 24 007) is a discretionary cooperative agreement administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) under CFDA 20.315. It is a single-recipient opportunity created to pass through appropriated federal funding to Amtrak, and no other applicants are eligible. The program is rooted in continuing appropriations legislation, specifically the Further Additional Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-35) and the Extension of Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act (Public Law 118-40), which direct the FRA to make these funds available.

The agreement provides up to $167,870,430, with an expected award count of one, and the money is designated to cover Amtrak's capital needs and debt service. In practical terms, this means the funding is intended for major asset and infrastructure-related expenditures as well as payments associated with financing obligations, rather than day-to-day operating subsidies alone. The availability window is flexible but time-bounded: the funds may be used through December 31, 2026, or until they are fully spent, whichever comes first. That structure gives Amtrak room to obligate and spend money across multiple years, which is typical for capital programs where projects can take significant time to design, procure, and complete.

Although the funding is effectively reserved for Amtrak, the opportunity still requires a formal grant application package to document how the money will be used and to satisfy federal grant-making and oversight requirements. To receive the award, Amtrak must submit a standard federal application (SF-424) along with a Statement of Work that lays out the activities and deliverables to be supported. A key requirement is a detailed description of projected operating and capital costs for the upcoming fiscal year, covering both Northeast Corridor (NEC) activities and the broader National Network. For the NEC, this includes train services and the corridor's infrastructure; for the National Network, it includes state-supported routes and long-distance routes. Importantly, the submission must compare these projections to actual financial performance from the prior fiscal year, signaling that FRA expects a year-over-year view of costs and performance rather than a standalone budget request.

The application must also spell out the capital projects to be funded, including cost estimates and an estimated project schedule. This effectively functions as a project-level capital plan, giving FRA visibility into what assets or infrastructure improvements will be advanced with the funds and when Amtrak expects completion. In addition to cost and schedule information, Amtrak must provide a description of the status of its efforts to improve safety culture, indicating that the award is tied not only to financial and project execution details but also to ongoing organizational safety improvements.

On the compliance side, the package includes the standard federal assurances forms for both non-construction and construction activities (SF-424B and SF-424D). Amtrak must also submit signed FRA assurances and certification forms using the Department of Transportation/FRA templates provided at the referenced FRA link. These documents collectively confirm adherence to federal requirements that typically cover areas like legal authority, nondiscrimination, lobbying restrictions, procurement and labor standards, and other statutory and administrative conditions that apply to federally funded projects.

The opportunity's original closing date was April 10, 2024, reflecting that it is a time-limited announcement tied to a specific fiscal-year appropriation action. Overall, this grant opportunity is best understood as a formal mechanism for FRA to obligate a defined amount of federal funding to Amtrak for NEC-related and broader network capital and debt service needs, while requiring structured documentation on budgets, capital plans, schedules, and safety-culture progress to support oversight through the period of performance ending no later than December 31, 2026.

• The DOT - Federal Railroad Administration in the transportation sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 Northeast Corridor Cooperative Agreement to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.315.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-03-27.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-04-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $167,870,430.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for FR AMT 24 007

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: