For immediate release:                                                                    

May 10, 2022

MassDOT Opens New Round of New Industrial Rail Access Program Grant Applications

Program helps increase rail and freight access, economic opportunity, and job growth

Applications due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, 2022

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is announcing it is now accepting applications for the Fiscal Year 2023 Industrial Rail Access Program (IRAP).  The program accepts applications from freight rail-supported businesses across the Commonwealth, and supports projects that expand or improve rail or freight access, economic opportunity, safety and job growth.

IRAP is a competitive state-funded public/private partnership program that provides financial assistance to eligible applicants to invest in industry-based rail infrastructure access improvement projects. Applicants must match public funds with private funds, with private funds paying at least 40 percent of a project’s total cost.  Applicants may match more than the required minimum.

All applications are due by close of business on Thursday, June 9, 2022. Projects are approved based upon consistency with program requirements and the level of public benefits they offer such as system preservation, mobility, economic development, and safety.  

In the most recent round of IRAP awards, nearly $3 million was awarded to seven projects throughout the Commonwealth. These seven projects are expected to create or retain at least 100 new jobs, eliminate 19,000 truck trips each year, and support over 5,000 rail car deliveries each year for statewide businesses.

For more information and to apply to the IRAP program, please visit: https://www.mass.gov/industrial-rail-access-program. 

###