Closed · FR-RRD-26-001 · CFDA 20.332 · Discretionary

FY26 Rail Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (Rail Safety IDEA)

Federal grant opportunity posted by DOT - Federal Railroad Administration, cataloged on Grants.gov.

up to $500K
Award range
Closed
Status
July 20, 2026
Close date
1
Expected awards

The verdict

FY26 Rail Safety Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (Rail Safety IDEA) is a closed discretionary listing from DOT - Federal Railroad Administration that offered Up to $500,000 across 1 expected award. Future funding cycles may be published under the same CFDA number. PlainGrants indexes 418 other opportunities from DOT - Federal Railroad Administration.

up to $500K
award range
Closed
application status
1
expected award
20.332
CFDA program

Recently closed NOFO

This listing closed on July 20, 2026. Watch CFDA 20.332 (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (TIFIA)) for the next funding cycle. Historical award band was Up to $500,000.

According to Grants.gov (extract vintage 2026-08-10), this record reflects the officially published listing. See methodology.

Deadline tracker

Application window closed

Closed July 20, 2026

Posted Jul 14 Closes Jul 20

Est. Total Funding

$500,000

Expected Awards

1

Instrument

Grant

Description

Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) programs explore promising but unproven concepts with the potential to advance specific surface transportation systems. The Rail Safety IDEA program investigates innovative concepts and methods to improve safety and performance of railroads. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) endeavors to provide funding for the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to continue to carry out the Rail Safety IDEA program. FRA funding for the Safety IDEA program has been provided since October 2002. FRA joined the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), as a joint sponsor of the Safety IDEA program. FMCSA has been funding the Safety IDEA program since the program started in October 2001. In 2013, the Rail Safety IDEA program has become completely independent and separate from the FMCSA; therefore, all projects funded by this Grant must be railroad related projects. The Rail Safety IDEA programs explore innovative concepts that are initiated and proposed by researchers, inventors, universities, or companies, both within and outside the usual transportation research community.

Catch-all / unrestricted eligibility mark · FR-RRD-26-001

Grants.gov marks FY26 Rail Safety Innovations Deserving Explor… with a catch-all / unrestricted eligibility code (Others (see official listing text)). Read the official announcement text for the real applicant filter — the code alone is not a door list. The extract does not mark applicant cost-sharing as required. Instrument: Grant. Funding-activity code maps to Transportation (T). This eligibility-code string dominates the DOT - Federal Railroad Administration book (331 peers, 79% of 419).

Code 25
Others (see official listing text)

Codes are Grants.gov eligibility category values from the extract vintage 2026-08-10. Confirm the full eligibility statement on the official listing or the Grants.gov eligibility reference.

Official Listing on Grants.gov

View full details, application forms, and submission instructions.

View on Grants.gov

Parent Grant Program

CFDA 20.332

Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation (TIFIA)

U.S. Department of Transportation

View program →

Agency Contact

GrantSolutions Help Desk Phone Number: 1.866.577.0771 or 202.401.5282 Hours of operation are Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET help@grantsolutions.gov

What to do next

FY26 Rail Safety Innovations Deserving Explor… is closed; use the parent program and agency catalog for the next funding cycle.

  • Parent CFDA 20.332 may publish future NOFOs under the same assistance listing. Open program
  • Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Inn… indexes 0 Grants.gov listings in this extract. Program profile
  • DOT - Federal Railroad Administration lists 418 other indexed opportunities on PlainGrants. Agency catalog

Opportunity deadlines and eligibility change on Grants.gov; PlainGrants mirrors the extract and is not the submission system.

Disclaimer: This information is sourced from Grants.gov and SAM.gov and is for informational purposes only. Opportunity details, deadlines, and eligibility requirements change frequently. Always verify current information directly on Grants.gov before applying. PlainGrants is not affiliated with any federal agency.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from the SAM.gov Assistance Listings and Grants.gov. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainGrants