Why It Matters
Congress faces a hard deadline as the federal surface transportation authorization is set to expire on September 30 without a successor in place. A Congressional Research Service report updated in June 2026 highlights the stakes for passenger and freight rail. Amtrak’s expenses exceed revenues every year, leaving the railroad dependent on federal funding to continue operating and undertake infrastructure improvements.
The Big Picture
Rail programs do not receive contract authority from the Highway Trust Fund and therefore rely on the annual appropriations process to make funding available for grants.
A House appropriations bill proposed funding Amtrak in fiscal 2026 by redirecting Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grant funds rather than providing a new appropriation. Congress did not retain that provision in the final fiscal 2026 appropriations law. California High-Speed Rail leadership has indicated it would no longer seek federal funding after previously awarded federal grant funds were withdrawn.
A two-person minimum crew provision substantially similar to the amendment adopted by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for H.R. 8870 was previously approved by the Senate Commerce Committee in the 118th Congress. Meanwhile, the final offer rate review method for freight rate disputes was struck down as unconstitutional and removed from federal regulations in June 2025, eliminating a tool intended to make smaller freight rate disputes easier and less costly for shippers to pursue.
Cargo theft from freight trains has grown since 2020, though existing federal tools for addressing the problem are fragmented across multiple agencies, including the FBI, Postal Inspection Service, DEA and TSA. CSX announced in February that it had reduced cargo theft incidents by more than 80% year over year in the Memphis rail corridor through fencing, surveillance and operational changes.
The Bottom Line
Every completed multiyear surface transportation authorization enacted since 1991 has required at least one extension before Congress enacted its successor. The current authorization expires Sept. 30, leaving Congress to enact a successor, approve another temporary extension or allow existing authorities to expire.
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