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Next month, Providence and Worcester Railroad Co. (PWRR) will operate the inaugural train on a 22-mile Rhode Island corridor that’s being built under the Freight Rail Improvement Project (FRIP).

The FRIP line comprises 17 miles of dedicated freight-rail track (10 miles of which are new and seven miles are rehabilitated) and two upgraded electrified lines totaling five miles. Funded by the federal government and state of Rhode Island, the $148 million project began in 2002 and will be completed at August’s end. Regular train service will start in September.

The FRIP was originally proposed by the state in the mid-1990s to expand the electrified Northeast Corridor’s capacity from Central Falls to Providence to Quonset Point/Davisville, R.I., and increase overhead clearances to accommodate modern rail equipment.

The 545-mile PWRR operates lines in Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and operates two intermodal yards in Worcester, Mass.