CLEVELAND, OH – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) visited the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) Central Rail Facility to announce that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration has invested $130 million to replace GCRTA’s aging rail cars. As Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over public transportation, Brown worked with senators of both parties to write and pass The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including the Rail Vehicle Replacement Program which is funding the investment.



“Replacing these ancient rail cars will save taxpayers money, keep workers on the job, and improve service for Clevelanders. If you’re an hourly worker, whether a train is on-time can mean the difference between making your shift or not,” said Brown. “I fought to secure this investment in the bipartisan infrastructure bill because transit like RTA is ultimately about the dignity of work. It creates jobs, it connects people with jobs, and it attracts jobs.”

GCRTA’s new rail car fleet will save the agency money by reducing repair costs and provide more comfortable and reliable service for passengers. GCRTA is studying new routes and new travel options for its riders because the new rail cars will be capable of operating across the agency’s entire rail network. 

Brown was joined by Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez; Congresswoman Shontel Brown; India Birdsong Terry, General Manager and CEO of GCRTA; Bryan Moore, GCRTA Rail Car Replacement Project Manager and Daniel Tighe, Vehicle Maintenance Instructor. Birdsong Terry and Moore spoke about their experiences promoting accessible and efficient public transit in Ohio, and the importance of this infrastructure investment, and Tighe spoke about the efforts of GCRTA’s maintenance workers that will transition from maintaining the old rail fleet to the new rail cars. GCRTA’s rail lines provide more than 12,000 trips every weekday, and the agency’s ridership totaled 18.8 million passenger trips in 2022 across all bus and rail routes.