Northern Plains Rail breaks ground on rail-car repair center

Northern Plains Rail Services (NPRS) yesterday held a ceremonial groundbreaking for its rail-car servicing and repair center now under construction in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The NPRS Grand Plains Rail Center will be located on 283 industrial-zoned acres near Interstate 29 and accessed by BNSF Railway Co., NPRS officials said in a press release.

NPRS officials expect the center to be operational next year, with room for continued expansion and development of complementary services, they said.

“Strategically, the Grand Forks shop will provide our customers that are served by BNSF with excellent access to our car repair services, rounding out the present access to repair facilities that [the company] offers at Erskine, Minnesota, on the Canadian Pacific and on CN at the Alberta Midland Railway Terminal near Edmonton, Alberta,” said NPRS Founder and Chairman Gregg Haug.

NPRS provides rail services in seven upper Midwest states and across western Canada. Its original company, Northern Plains Railroad, operates a 350-mile regional network across Minnesota and North Dakota, interchanging with CP.