Short Line Training Center Gets $5.6M Grant

A federal grant will expand workforce training for short line railroad employees across the United States.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Adult Education

Photograph of a single diesel locomotive on a straight rail line across open prairie at dawn, with morning haze over empty grassland. — The American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association received a $5.6 million federal grant to expand its Short Line Training Center for railroad workers nationwide. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

The American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association was awarded a $5.6 million FY25-26 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements grant. ASLRRA will provide a 25% match to support expansion of the Short Line Training Center.

Why it matters

The grant expands industry-specific training that is available to all short line railroads and contractors, including those that would otherwise lack access to it. It builds on a program that has already provided safety, compliance and regulatory training to nearly 2,000 short line employees.

Federal records show the Short Line Training Center was first funded by a FY20 CRISI grant to Iowa Northern Railway Co. The new award funds a minimum of 24 industry-specific programmes over six years, but the extraction does not specify how many have been delivered to date.

The players

American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA)

ASLRRA is the trade association representing short line and regional railroads in the United States, and it serves as primary contractor for the Short Line Training Center.

The details

The grant will fund expansion of workforce development at the Short Line Training Center, which is run by ASLRRA as primary contractor. The project also includes acquisition of technology to enhance course delivery, and the training center includes a mobile unit with two locomotive simulators and classroom space for six students.

FY20: The original CRISI grant funded the Short Line Training Center.
November 2, 2026: The grant award to ASLRRA was announced.
Over the next six years: Grant-funded programmes and seminars are to be delivered.

Culture Shift

The award extends the Short Line Training Center that the FY20 CRISI grant to Iowa Northern Railway Co. first funded, shifting the center toward a multi-year pipeline of subject-matter-expert-developed training. It targets short line railroads that have lacked access to such instruction.

Training under the grant is available to all short line railroads and contractors. Employees and employers can access the programmes and seminars as they are delivered over the six-year period.

The takeaway

Short line railroad workers and contractors can look to the Short Line Training Center for safety, compliance and regulatory training. The grant is designed to keep training available beyond the initial center funding.