Advocacy Efforts Testimony and Comments For the Media CRISI Grant Application Info
Upcoming Events Live and On-Demand Education Member Discount Program
Central & Pacific Region Meeting
New Orleans, LA | Nov. 3-5
2026 Annual Conference & Exhibition
Minneapolis, MN | April 12-14
Virtual Reality Courses Now Available: Freight Car Familiarization; Locomotive Daily Inspection; Class I Airbrake Test & Inspection
Leadership Program — Professional Trainer Development
October 7-9 | Freeport, ME
Membership has its privileges – don’t miss out on these!
WASHINGTON, August 7, 2025 — The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA), representing the nation’s 603 short line freight railroads, announced the 100th cosponsor of H.R. 516 – the Railroad Tax Maintenance Credit Modernization bill. Representatives Adam Gray [D-CA-13], Michael Lawler [R-NY-17], Frank Lucas [R-OK-3], Mary Miller [R-IL-15], Max Miller [R-OH-7], and Kim Schrier [D-WA-8] signed onto the bill on August 5th, joining 96 other bi-partisan cosponsors of a bill that would modernize a successful, decades long public-private partnership and sending the cosponsor count over the symbolic 100 marker.
WASHINGTON, June 18, 2025 — Today, Peter Gilbertson provided testimony to Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines and Safety’s hearing, “On the Right Track: Modernizing America’s Rail Network.” In his testimony, Gilbertson outlined three initiatives that would enable short lines to remain a critical transportation provider to more than 10,000 customers, and a driver of economic growth in small town and rural areas of the United States: robust and predictable federal infrastructure funding, especially through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program; regulatory reform that is data- and risk-driven, not prescriptive and support for innovation; and new technologies, through streamlined testing, waivers, and investment.
Washington, D.C., September 8, 2025 – ASLRRA has submitted a number of recommendations in response to a Request for Information (RFI) from the U.S. Department of Transportation. ASLRRA noted that the next surface transportation reauthorization presents a critical opportunity to strengthen freight rail, and offered a number of recommendations, including: enhancing transportation safety through continued funding of CRISI, grade crossing programs, and the Short Line Safety Institute, and support of a more modern and flexible regulatory framework; accelerating project delivery by streamlining grant processes and environmental reviews, and providing for assured funding through advance appropriations; promoting economic growth and resilience through expanded funding tools such as CRISI and program eligibility in RRIF; and strengthening partnerships and regulatory flexibility to support innovation and right-sized compliance.
