Amtrak and its partners have received just over $2.1bn in grants from the Federal Railroad Administration to improve and expand Amtrak services across the US.

Of that, $2bn will go to Amtrak’s partners for infrastructure upgrades in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maine.

$108.5m goes directly to Amtrak for station and service upgrades.

And $34.5m will be spread among 39 states and localities to plan 69 new or improved intercity passenger rail corridors.

Announcing the grants, Amtrak chief executive Stephen Gardner said ridership on the network was “soaring”.

In November last year, the FRA granted Amtrak nearly $10bn to modernise the North East Corridor from Washington, DC up to Boston.

The biggest beneficiaries were the Frederick Douglass Tunnel (up to $4.7bn); the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge (up to $2.08bn); the East River Tunnel Rehabilitation (up to $1.26bn); the Connecticut River Bridge Replacement (up to $826.64m); and the Dock Bridge Rehabilitation (up to $300.18m).