Federal Railroad Administration

The Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration, a sub-agency of the Department of Transportation, administers federal contract awards and grants supporting railroad safety, employee performance, passenger rail infrastructure, and surface transportation research. The FRA transacts across research and development, toxicological testing, locomotive efficiency studies, and capital infrastructure grants for passenger rail and grade-crossing safety.

The FRA has closed 5,185 federal contract awards since 1979, totaling $1.62 billion in combined potential value. Over the last five years, the FRA awarded 100 contracts in 2022, 100 in 2023, 124 in 2024, 43 in 2025, and 73 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent recorded award date is October 15, 2026. Among current prime contractors, competitive concentration is moderately concentrated; the top five primes by award count—led by Ensco Inc. with 82 awards totaling $165.8 million in potential value, followed by Sharma & Associates Inc. with 17 awards ($6.7 million), and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. with 14 awards ($48.2 million)—hold 30 percent of recent awards by count. By potential value, the top five hold 17 percent, reflecting a broader prime base of 1,058 distinct contractors across the portfolio. The set-aside mix is heavily skewed toward unrestricted awards: 91 percent carry no set-aside designation, with small-business set-asides accounting for 5 percent of awards and 8(a) awards (sole source and competitive combined) representing 3 percent.

The FRA has obligated $82.67 billion across 1,402 federal grant awards since 2001, with total combined federal and non-federal dollars of $110.8 billion. Annual grant activity has varied: 83 awards in 2022, 48 in 2023, 189 in 2024, 207 in 2025, and 11 year-to-date in 2026. Grant recipient concentration is highly concentrated; the top five recipients by federal dollars—National Railroad Passenger Corporation ($38.56 billion across 47 awards), Department of Transportation Connecticut ($1.23 billion across 13 awards), Virginia Passenger Rail Authority ($837.6 million across 5 awards), Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ($172.9 million across 7 awards), and Washington State Department of Transportation ($152 million across 7 awards)—hold 50 percent of federal dollars obligated. By award count, the top five hold 17 percent. Grant assistance types are predominantly Project Grants (69 percent) with a substantial Cooperative Agreement component (29 percent); Formula Grants represent 2 percent and Block Grants less than 1 percent.

Recent contract opportunities reflect safety and research priorities: post-accident toxicological testing oversight and execution (small-business set-asides for laboratory services), computational fluid dynamics modeling of lithium-ion battery explosion hazards in rail vehicles, railroad employee fatigue and scheduling pilot program research, and investigation of aftermarket technologies for locomotive efficiency improvement. Recent grant opportunities include multimodal infrastructure rehabilitation at passenger stations in Vermont and Maryland, fourth-track construction on the CSX Richmond Subdivision, railroad rights-of-way and grade-crossing safety education funding, and transportation emergency responder training.

The Federal Railroad Administration is charged with creating and enforcing rail safety regulations, administering rail funding, and researching rail improvement strategies and technologies.