MDOT provides grants to railroads and owners of multi-user transload facilities to improve public safety, operational efficiency, system accessibility, system capacity and/or system condition. Grants cover up to 70 percent of eligible project costs up to $5 million.
Learn more about the Michigan Rail Enhancement Grant Program.
Eligible applicants include freight railroads and owners of multi-user transload facilities. A Letter of Support from the serving railroad must be included with the application if the applicant is not a freight railroad.
Yes, provided the transload facility will serve multiple users at project completion. Letters of support/commitment from expected transload users are encouraged.
Fixed assets such as track, ties, bridges, crossings, rail scales on mainline corridors and in rail yards, intermodal facilities and transload facilities are among the eligible project types.
Movable equipment and/or rolling stock (new or used) may be considered if plans are submitted that adequately address proof of Michigan-specific use.
Professional engineering services (design engineering, geotechnical investigation and analysis, construction engineering, inspection/oversight, material testing, surveying, etc.); permit fees; property or right of way acquisition.
Yes. All applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. Nov. 9, 2026.
MDOT expects to award at least $20 million in grants, subject to the merits of the applications received and their alignment with the program’s goals.
Yes. Grants are capped at 70 percent of the final eligible project costs up to a maximum of $5 million. There is no minimum grant amount.
Yes, matching funds equal to at least 30 percent of the project costs are required. Providing more than 30 percent match will be viewed favorably.
No, match is cash-only.
Yes, but the total grant amount cannot exceed $5 million per applicant, per project solicitation and/or MDOT fiscal year. A holding company with multiple railroads is considered an applicant and is subject to the $5 million maximum grant request.
Yes, you may submit applications that in total request more than $5 million in MDOT contribution, but MDOT will select only the most competitive project(s) that don’t exceed a combined $5 million. Partial awards are unlikely to be considered.
Yes. The documents mentioned above are required but other documents can also be attached. However, please complete all fields of the application rather than only referencing the attachments.
Yes, but applications are only evaluated on how well they align with the goals of the program; your ranking will not affect how the application is scored.
If specific commodities or individual companies cannot be listed because of privacy or safety concerns, indicate the industries that would benefit from the rail project. Refer to the MDOT Rail Commodity Flow Map for how MDOT publicly discloses this information.
Yes. Your completed application and all accompanying documents are subject to FOIA requests. For more information, review MDOT’s FOIA policy.
Yes, track materials are subject to Michigan’s sales tax; these costs should be incorporated into your project budget.
Refer to the public benefits and reporting measures section at the end of the FAQs.
Reviewers include staff members from the MDOT Office of Rail and the MDOT Bureau of Transportation Planning.
Applications are evaluated by how well the proposed project improves public safety, operational efficiency, system accessibility, system capacity and/or system condition to better serve customers, communities and/or the State of Michigan. Supplemental measures that meaningfully capture additional public benefits will also be viewed favorably.
Other evaluation factors include overmatch (more than the required 30 percent), the project’s inclusion in the state’s long-range transportation plan (Michigan Mobility 2045, or MM2045), the proposed public benefits and performance measures, performance on previous MDOT rail grants, and the overall quality and completeness of the application and supporting documents.
Funding decisions will be made within 90 days of the application deadline.
It typically takes six to eight weeks to get a contract in place. MDOT uses cloud-based digital signature software called OneSpan for signing contracts and contract amendments.
A standard M-REP contract will be provided for all selected projects and not individually negotiated. Key terms are listed in the following. A sample contract will be provided to applicants with selected projects. A project contract will be provided through MDOT’s digital signature system to the authorized signatory.
MDOT will make up to three payments to reimburse grant recipients for eligible project costs. The final payment, covering at least 30 percent of the grant award, is made after MDOT completes a final project inspection.
If necessary to start a project, a portion of the grant funds can be disbursed when the contract with MDOT is signed. Up-front assistance is limited to 25 percent of the grant amount, and collateral will be required in those cases. Applicants need to indicate if this assistance is necessary in the application.
MDOT will entertain all collateral proposals, the most common of which are Letters of Credit and UCC-filed material collateral, such as stockpiled rail. Letters of Credit must come from a bank or other financial institution.
Yes. Grantees who request the 25 percent advanced payment will be limited to one additional progress payment and a final payment that covers at least 30 percent of the grant award.
This program, like most MDOT programs, will typically only cover costs that were incurred after a contract is in place.
Projects must be completed within three years from the contract award date.
Work can be self-performed and/or contracted.
Yes. Competitive bidding is required in certain circumstances and Michigan-based companies must be used whenever practicable. Grantees are typically required to award the contract to the lowest qualified bidder. Selection justification must be provided and approved by MDOT if the low qualified bidder is not selected. Contractors must also abide by the terms and conditions of the MDOT contract.
If the railroad uses its own equipment (newly purchased or already owned) to construct the project, MDOT will reimburse in accordance with Blue Book rental rates for the time in which equipment use is documented for the project.
The grantee is responsible for meeting all applicable environmental requirements. There are no unique environmental requirements related to this funding.
Reporting requirements will be based on the proposed performance measures. Grantees will be required to report their performance measures at least twice: once no later than two years after project completion, and once not later than five years after project completion. In some cases, a baseline measurement will also be required. The reports/measurements must be submitted within 90 days of a mutually determined date that will be established before MDOT makes the final grant payment.
A final invoice must be submitted to MDOT within 180 days of project completion.
Step 1: Determine which public benefit category (accessibility, capacity, efficiency or public safety) best fits the project’s goals. Refer to the bullets under each following category for examples. It is possible for a project to fit under more than one category.
Step 2: Identify the specific public benefit(s). You must define a specific public benefit that can be measured before and after construction. Refer to the public benefit examples under each category below.
Step 3: Describe how the public benefit improvement will be measured and reported. You must define how you plan to measure the change in accessibility, capacity, efficiency, etc. Refer to the possible reporting measures under each of the following categories.
Example:
Your proposed project involves mainline tie and rail replacement, the goal being to improve track speeds and remove slow orders. Overall, you see this project as an improvement in efficiency.
Public Benefit: the project will improve efficiency by increasing track speeds from FRA Class 1 to FRA Class 2. This is a specific public benefit that can be measured.
Reporting Measure: the improvement in efficiency will be measured by providing employee timetables documenting the maximum operating speeds for this section of track before and after project completion. This is a specific method of measuring the public benefit.
