Thursday, May 17, 2001 (Washington, DC) The U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta today announced Federal Railroad Administration grants totaling $4.6 million to ten states in federally designated high-speed rail corridors to eliminate hazards at public and private highway-rail grade crossings.

"We must eliminate highway-rail grade crossing hazards to safely implement high-speed rail and these grants will assist in this process," said Secretary Mineta. "Additionally, the President has proposed investing $154 million dollars for rail safety in FY 2002 - 9 percent more than FY 2001."

The funds will be used with other federal and state grade crossing funding to safely accelerate the implementation of high-speed rail corridors. All public and private highway-rail grade crossings in designated corridors are eligible for funding which may be spent on closing and consolidating crossings, building grade separations, analysis and engineering activities, installing or upgrading warning devices and other related project development. The federal share of costs for improvements may be up to 100 percent of the total engineering and construction costs.

Fiscal 2001 grants to designated corridors are as follows:

* Pacific Northwest Corridor: Oregon, $1,318,500.

* California Corridor: California, $109,875.

* Chicago Hub Corridor: Minnesota, $219,750; Wisconsin, $439,500.

* Gulf Coast Corridor: Louisiana, $439,500; Mississippi, $492,240; Alabama, $386,760.

* Southeast Corridor: Georgia, $109,875; Virginia, $659,250.

* Keystone Corridor: Pennsylvania, $439,500.

Since the enactment of the Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing Program in 1973, highway-rail grade crossing fatalities have declined at public crossings from 1,185 in 1973 to 414 in 2000, representing a 65.1 percent decline in fatalities since the program began.

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) expanded the highway-rail grade crossing hazard elimination program that originated under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA). The Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Highway Administration manage the program.