January 29, 2026
Mr. Sheehy (for himself and Mr. Merkley) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
To remove the requirement that the Secretary of Transportation consider the committed or anticipated non-Federal funding for long distance intercity passenger rail routes under the Corridor Identification and Development Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Long-Distance Corridor Relief Enhancement Act
.
Sec. 2. Modification of consideration requirement of non-Federal funding for corridor selection
Section 25101(c) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (14) as subparagraphs (A) through (N), respectively, and indenting such subparagraphs, as so redesignated, 2 ems to the right;
(2)
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), as so redesignated, by striking In selecting
and inserting the following:
(1) In general
In selecting;
(3)
in subparagraph (F), as so redesignated, by striking committed or
and by inserting except as provided in paragraph (2), committed or
; and
(4)
by adding at the end the following:
(2) Exception for long-distance route corridor
(A) In general
For the purposes of this subsection, the Secretary shall not require or consider committed or anticipated non-Federal funding for any part of the program described in subsection (a) for any intercity passenger rail corridor on a long-distance route.
(B) Application
The exception provided in subparagraph (A) shall apply to any long-distance route corridor accepted into the program on or after October 1, 2023.