Provides for grants for freight railroad preservation and improvement.

This bill authorizes $4.5 million in G.O. bonds and appropriates the funds for a new category of freight railroad rehabilitation and infrastructure improvement grants being established under the Minnesota Rail Service Improvement (MRSI) program. The program requirements consist of: Grant eligibility for class II and class III railroads, local governmental units, and shippers(regardless of rail facility ownership); A grant maximum at 80 percent of project costs; and Prioritization of awards based on capital or rehabilitation projects to improve service, segments experiencing low rail service use, and more than 20 percent of the funding coming from non-state and nonfederal sources.

Carries-over to 2018. Companion to HF 1844.

03/13/2017 Introduction and first reading. Referred to Senate Committee on Transportation Finance and Policy.