Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will implement a new framework to modernize noise standards, paving the way for high-speed rail development.
“The Biden-Buttigieg administration dumped dollars into Gavin Newsom’s multi-billion-dollar Train to Nowhere instead of doing any regulatory work to make building this kind of innovation in America possible,” Duffy said in a statement. “This administration is cutting through the red tape that has stopped rail innovators from building in America before. We’re making it attractive to businesses and investors to partner with USDOT and develop high speed rail here in the U.S.”
Under current regulations, noise standards focus on engine and mechanical sounds rather than wind noise generated at high speeds. The new framework includes regulations for high-speed trains running between 160 and 220 mph.
“[T]he proposed alternative compliance standard establishes a baseline equivalent sound level of 96 dB(A) for the duration of the train pass-by for a speed of 160 mph,” the new framework explains. “Below this speed, mechanical noise emissions will generally predominate over aerodynamic noise emissions; above 160 mph, aerodynamic noise begins to become the dominant contributor to noise.”
Last year, the Trump administration pulled funding for the state’s high-speed rail project after more than a decade of mismanagement. The termination letter stated that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) made the “unavoidable conclusion” that the rail would not be completed by the end of 2033. The entity has also found that the train has “no viable path” to completion, a report indicated.
