Congress·In Committee·S. 3728

Long-Distance Trains: New Rules for Federal Support

Long-Distance Corridor Relief Enhancement Act

Legislative Progress

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Senators Sheehy and Merkley introduced a bill to change how the government picks new long-distance train routes. It would stop the Department of Transportation from requiring local or state money to be promised before a project can join a federal development program.
Currently, when the government decides which train routes to support, they look at whether states or private groups are helping pay. This bill says that for routes covering long distances between cities, that extra money should not be a factor in the decision.
This matters because long-distance trains often travel through many different states. It is often very hard to get multiple state governments to agree on a budget at the same time, which can prevent these big projects from ever getting off the ground.
The new rule would apply to any long-distance route accepted into the federal program since October 2023. This helps ensure that projects already being planned can move forward without being held up by local funding delays.

2 milestones2 actions

Jan 29, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Jan 29, 2026

Introduced in Senate

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Long-Distance Corridor Relief Enhancement Act

Bill NumberS 3728

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

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D: 1

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

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