BNSF charts 2014 economic development results

BNSF Railway Co. worked with customers and state and local economic development organizations to build or expand 138 rail facilities across its network in 2014, the Class I announced yesterday.

BNSF customers invested nearly $1.5 billion in the projects, which marks the fourth consecutive year they spent more than $1 billion in rail projects to support their businesses, according to a BNSF press release.

The 2014 projects include 13 agriculture facilities and 11 crude-oil terminals in various states. Other highlights of BNSF's supply-chain solutions include:
• completion of a logistics center in Sweetwater, Texas, where BNSF spent $28 million to replace track and add 40,000 feet of new track at the site.
• creation of a Bison Rail and West Electronics INc. transload rail operation in Poplar, Mont., which turned an unused section of track into a shipping port. The Bison Rail is a rail spur off the BNSF mainline that connects a 2,600-foot extension.
• installation of a railroad unloading track capable of storing 1 million gallons of propane to resupply the existing terminal facility owned by Alliance Midstream LLC in Benson, Minn.

"The rail industry as a whole is an indicator of the health of the economy. The diversity of expansion our customers achieved in 2014 is a confirmation of the economic development potential of rail and the value proposition offered by BNSF’s freight rail services," said Steve Bobb, BNSF executive vice president and chief marketing officer.