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Last week, Union Pacific Railroad began a $7 million track improvement project on a line between Ames and Goldfield, Iowa.

To be completed Dec. 1, the project calls for upgrading 56 miles of track by removing and installing 55,800 ties, replacing 2,000 feet of rail in a curve and spreading 22,400 tons of ballast. Between May and early October, crews finished the first part of the project: the replacement of surfaces at 25 grade crossings.

The project is part of UP’s $3.1 billion capital spending budget for 2008. The Class I plans to spend $85 million this year on capital projects in Iowa vs. $127 million in 2007.