MoDOT is currently looking into options of increasing Amtrak service across the state including frequency on the Missouri River Runner line between St. Louis and Kansas City. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) established a Corridor ID program to facilitate the development of intercity passenger rail corridors.
MoDOT has submitted four applications for this federal funding on four different corridors in Missouri, including the existing Missouri River Runner line and potential future lines from KC to St. Joseph, from KC to Springfield/Branson and from Quincy, IL to Hannibal, MO. The federal grant would provide $500,000 to enable MoDOT to hire a consultant and do the preliminary study of a potential future line. All four of these concepts have been identified by communities across the state for years and are currently identified as unfunded needs.
MoDOT hopes to hear a decision from the Federal Railroad Administration on whether Missouri will receive a grant(s) by the end of the year.
The funding was included in MoDOT’s FY2025 budget request has a placeholder in case these initial studies receive the federal grants and they are able to move forward.
More information on the federal program is here: https://railroads.dot.gov/corridor-ID-program.