Pennsylvania OKs $33 million in grants for freight-rail projects

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf yesterday announced the approval of 25 freight-rail improvement projects that will receive a combined $33 million in state funding.

The funds will be issued through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Rail Transportation Assistance and the Rail Freight Assistance programs.

Projects qualifying for the funds will help enhance freight mobility and create or sustain more than 200 jobs across the state, Wolf said in a press release.

Freight railroads and the state dollars they’ll receive for their projects include:
• Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway Co., $9 million to replace 19 miles of rail, improving the track from jointed rail to continuous-welded rail;
• CSX, $6 million to rehabilitate the railroad bridge over Washington Avenue and remove an inactive spur bridge along the 25th Street Viaduct, increasing safety and improving access in Philadelphia County;
• R. J. Corman Railroad Group, $3 million to improve the Cresson Subdivision and Clearfield Yard with spot tie and rail replacement, and rehabilitate five grade crossings;
• Central New York Railroad, $2.3 million to rehabilitate the nine-span 1930 Lanesboro Bridge, improving safety for freight trains as well as vehicles and pedestrians beneath the bridge in Susquehanna County;
• Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad, $1.8 million to replace 5.5 miles of worn rail on curves to improve rail conditions and safety;
• SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, $1.5 million to rehabilitate nine railroad bridges;
• Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad, $1.1 million to rehabilitate 11.5 miles of track between Lottsville and East Columbus;
• R. J. Corman Railroad Group, Lehigh Line in Bradford County, $700,000 to replace 5,000 ties and rehabilitate a crossing;
• East Penn Railroad, $700,000 to rehabilitate the Octoraro Branch by replacing 7,000 ties, 1,100 feet of rail and three mainline switches, as well as 10 miles of surfacing;
• Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, $699,000 to replace six turnouts on Bridge 60 on the Strawberry Hill rail line;
• Pittsburgh and Ohio Central Railroad, $693,000 to rehabilitate two crossings, replace a turnout and repair the Greer Tunnel;
• Bucks County Railroad Preservation & Restoration Corp. $490,000 to install four turnouts, replace 800 feet of rail and ties, and construct 800 feet of new track; and
• Everett Railroad, $309,000 to rehabilitate three bridges with new deck ties and complete pier repairs.