State Rail Assistance Program

State Funding

Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, created the State Rail Assistance Program by directing a portion of new revenue specifically to intercity rail and commuter rail.

• SB 1 directs a 0.5% portion of new diesel sales tax revenue for allocation: half to the five commuter rail providers and half to intercity rail corridors
• Half of revenue is allocated in equal shares to commuter operators through 2019-20, and via guidelines thereafter
• Half of revenue is allocated to intercity rail corridors such that each of the existing three corridors receives at least 25% of the intercity rail share
• Funding is available for capital and operations

The majority of program funding is directed by statutory formula to rail operators, with guidelines defining process and timeline for agencies to obtain funding.

2023 Recipients

In December 2023, the California State Transportation Agency updated its approved application list to reflect additional programming of formula funds by commuter and intercity rail recipients, including projects selected with funding from Cycle 2 funding. In total, the SRA Program has awarded funds to 11 agencies with a total of $245.1 million awarded since 2018. View complete list of approved projects as of December 22, 2023 (PDF).

Adopted Guidelines and Allocation Request Form

• Adopted Guidelines, through FY 19-20 (PDF)
• Adopted Guidelines, FY 20-21 to FY 24-25 (PDF)
• Allocation Request Form (XLSM)