BNSF announces capex projects for Illinois, Oklahoma

BNSF Railway Co. on Monday announced plans for $240 million in capital expenditure projects in Illinois and Oklahoma for this year.

In Illinois, the Class I will perform $135 million-worth of maintenance projects to replace and upgrade rail, ties and ballast.

Projects will include 810 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work, as well as the replacement of 25 miles of rail and 50,000 ties. In addition, the railroad plans to add additional parking capacity at its Corwith Intermodal Facility in Chicago.

Over the past five years, BNSF has invested more than $1.2 billion to expand and maintain its network in Illinois, according to a BNSF press release.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, the Class I is budgeting $105 million for projects to replace and upgrade rail, ties and ballast. Projects call for replacing nearly 25 miles of rail and more than 150,000 ties. Between 2014 and 2018, BNSF has spent more than $570 million to expand and maintain its Oklahoma network.

The Illinois and Oklahoma projects are included in BNSF's network-wide $3.57 billion capital expenditure budget for 2019.