{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2024/10/29/bennet-hickenlooper-neguse-pettersen-polis-welcome-129-million-for-rail-projects-in-colorado/", "Bennet, Hickenlooper, Neguse, Pettersen, Polis Welcome $129 Million for Rail Projects in Colorado", "2024-10-29", "2024", "2024-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "CO", "Michael F. Bennet", "B001267", "www.bennet.senate.gov", "bennet", "https://www.bennet.senate.gov/news/page/", "scraper", "Photos from Press Conference HERE\n\nDenver \u2014 Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, U.S. Representatives Joe Neguse and Brittany Pettersen, and Governor Jared Polis welcomed over $129.5 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for four Colorado rail projects. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Colorado State University (CSU) Pueblo, San Luis Central Railroad, and OmniTRAX will all receive funding as part of DOT\u2019s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements Grant Program, funded in part through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The leaders held a press conference on Tuesday in Westminster, Colorado, to celebrate this announcement.\n\n\u201cColorado\u2019s railways are vital to connect our communities and get resources to markets across the country. That\u2019s why I ensured the U.S. Department of Transportation understood how critical this funding is for our state\u2019s transportation infrastructure,\u201d said Bennet. \u201cI\u2019m glad to have helped secure these investments in our railways\u2019 safety, efficiency, and reliability across the state. \u201d\n\n\u201cFrom freight in the San Luis Valley to passengers on the Front Range and beyond with CSU Pueblo\u2019s research, rail isn\u2019t just a part of our past, it\u2019s a big part of our future, too,\u201d said Hickenlooper. \u201cThat\u2019s the case we made to Secretary Buttigieg for this funding and this is just the start.\u201d\n\n\u201cAfter years of working to secure federal support for the Front Range Passenger Rail Project, I am excited to see the Department of Transportation heed our calls and commit to modernizing Colorado\u2019s passenger rail system\u2014not just for communities along the Front Range but for residents throughout the entire state. This is a once-in-a-generation investment in our passenger rail infrastructure, creating countless new opportunities for communities to connect, grow, and thrive\u2014and we will continue to work together to ensure this momentum leads to lasting benefits for all Coloradans,\u201d said Neguse.\n\n\u201cToday, I am incredibly grateful to see this federal funding coming to Colorado to strengthen our railway systems, enhance safety, and modernize our infrastructure,\u201d said Pettersen. \u201cAfter a train derailment in Boulder injured workers and put our communities at risk, I supported funding to reinforce public safety and restore trust in Colorado\u2019s rail infrastructure. I\u2019m pleased to see these federal dollars coming to our state to help ensure we have safe, reliable infrastructure for generations to come.\u201d\n\n\u201cToday\u2019s grant will make freight rail traffic in some of our busiest growing communities safer quickly while providing critical building blocks for Passenger Rail. This major funding will help achieve important priorities like complying with longstanding federal standards and improving the safety of rail crossings, which can be the sites of dangerous incidents. With more than $66 million in federal support from the Biden-Harris administration, the future of Colorado\u2019s rail network is a clear priority for the federal government, as it should be. We thank Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet, Congressman Neguse and Congresswoman Pettersen, and our communities for their support of this important project,\u201d said Polis.\n\nThis funding includes:\n\n$66.4 million for CDOT to modernize Front Range rail. This investment will help CDOT design, install, and test train operation and safety improvements, including Positive Train Control (PTC) and railroad crossings;\n\n$50.5 million for OmniTRAX transportation safety and employment. This investment will help design and construct replacement railroad ties across Omnitrax short lines;\n\n$11.6 million for CSU Pueblo to research renewable energy for rail vehicles. This investment will aid research and development of alternative fuel rail transportation, including safety experiments on the use of CH2/CNG-powered rail cars at the facility; and\n\n$1 million for San Luis Central Railroad to replace wooden ties. This investment will help replace deteriorated cross and switch ties to ensure safety along the SLC corridor.\n\n\u201cSouthern Colorado often represents a hard-working spirit leveraging the opportunity of innovation. This Department of Transportation CRISI grant emboldens that spirit, enabling CSU Pueblo, in partnership with the Southern Colorado Transportation Technology Center (SCITT), to contribute to the future of rail transportation through critical safety research in hydrogen and natural gas technologies. I am particularly proud of how this project will partner with our Engineering program at CSU Pueblo, utilizing the expertise here to create new pathways for our students and local workforce. This grant is more than research \u2013 it\u2019s a valuable investment into Southern Colorado,\u201d said Armando Valdez, President, CSU Pueblo.\n\n\u201cTIES2 will be transformative for the communities served by Great Western Railway of Colorado and the regions served by OmniTRAX railroads in Georgia, Alabama, and Washington state,\u201d said David Arganbright, Senior Vice President, OmniTRAX. \u201cOmniTRAX is proud to call Colorado home, and we are tremendously appreciative of all the work that Sen. Hickenlooper has done in Congress to champion Colorado\u2019s railways and deliver the critical infrastructure investments that strengthen our nation\u2019s supply chains.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:55:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.bennet.senate.gov/2024/10/29/bennet-hickenlooper-neguse-pettersen-polis-welcome-129-million-for-rail-projects-in-colorado/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8777910843491554, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}