• (Politico)  DOT announced Monday a new Notice of Funding Opportunity for about $2 billion in funds through the FRA’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program, known as CRISI. Applications are due by June 22. The program focuses on both intercity passenger and freight rail. (Despite the title, the program prioritizes Amtrak and short line projects, leaving commuter railroads ancillary beneficiaries at best.)

• Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) has introduced the Railroad Retirement Fairness Act (H.R. 8405), which would eliminate a federal provision that reduces retirement payments for certain retirees and spouses who continue working in non-railroad jobs after retirement. 

  Per a press release, under the current Pre-Retirement Non-Railroad Employment (LPE) law, railroad retirees and their spouses may face a reduction in retirement benefits if they continue working for their last prior non-railroad employer before retirement. Retirees who take a different job after retiring do not face the same penalty.

NOTICE OF INTENT TO PARTICIPATE

The Commuter Rail Coalition this week filed with the Surface Transportation Board a “notice of intent to participate” in the docket regarding the Union Pacific/Norfolk Southern merger. Doing so provides the association with the opportunity to access the filings submitted by the two railroads, and to comment on the merger’s impact on commuter rail operations.

CRC board chair Michelle Bouchard is being recognized as one of the industry’s most influential leaders in this year’s Railway Age readers’ choice spotlight Bouchard, who has led Caltrain since 2021, is one of only two women to make the 2026 list, and one of only two commuter rail leaders.

As Caltrain executive director, Bouchard led the electrification of the Caltrain corridor, a project first imagined in 1992. The $2.4 billion undertaking debuted in 2024 and within the first full year of service delivered extraordinary ridership results, far surpassing the previous post-COVID incremental gains. Moreover, following electrification, Bouchard worked with the US Department of State to facilitate the transfer of the agency's diesel railcar fleet to Peru. The transfer was marked with Secretary of State Blinken traveling to Peru to celebrate the donation of the cars, which now continue in service for the remainder of their useful life.

Bouchard is also the chair of the Commuter Rail Coalition board of directors, the third chair in the organization's history and first woman. In her first nine months of board leadership she has championed the association's Strategic Plan, which, critically, will shepherd the organization through a new season of growth and influence, along with the recruitment of the association's next chief staff executive and 2027 leadership transition.

Metro-North Railroad’s Justin Vonashek has also made the list. Vonashek was named president of the nation’s second-busiest railroad in April 2025. Metro-North serves customers throughout New York and Connecticut on its Harlem, Hudson, New Haven, Port Jervis, and Pascack Valley lines. 

Past winners include Phil Eng (MBTA), Jim Derwinski (Metra) and KellyAnne Gallagher (CRC).

CRC BOARD: CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

When the Coalition membership meets again June 30, elections will be held to fill two seats on the association’s board of directors. Candidates interested in serving on the association board are invited to self-nominate by May 1.

The CRC board of directors is comprised of 12 individuals, including the association’s immediate past chair. Each individual on the board is elected for a two-year term and is eligible to serve two terms in any one seat. In 2026, two at-large seats are up for re-election.

To self-nominate, submit a CV along with a comprehensive list of your personal engagement in CRC activities by the May 1 deadline.

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Legislators introduce Railroad Retirement Fairness Act (Progressive Railroading)

• Amtrak drags Metro-North to court after MTA allegedly slows down millions of commuters during petty feud (New York Post)

• USDOT Announces $2B Investment in Rail Infrastructure (RT&S)

• Application process opens for federal CRISI grants (Progressive Railroading)

• Application process opens for federal CRISI, Northeast Corridor grants (TrainsPRO)

• One Transit shares update on OKC metro commuter rail plans (News 9)

• USDOT opens CRISI and NEC rail grant applications (Railway Supply)

• Department of Transportation plans to invest 7 billion in US rail projects (Baltimore Sun)

• USDOT Announces $6.7B for Northeast Corridor, Nationwide Rail Upgrades (Metro Magazine)