advertisement

---

Yesterday, the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) approved plans to provide a $100,000 grant to U.S. Steel to rearrange tracks inside its Lorain plant.

The grant will help fund a $400,000 project that calls for straightening and adding track. The plant currently handles about 220 to 330 rail cars of inbound steel monthly, or about 2,600 to 4,000 carloads annually. U.S. Steel plans to add up to 10,000 more tons of inbound traffic at the plant, generating about 200 more carloads per month, or 2,400 carloads per year.

The ORDC also considered other rail projects at a meeting yesterday, including the acceleration of a second phase of rehabilitation work on the Indiana & Ohio Railroad’s line between Lancaster and Logan; modification of an existing carload agreement that would enable Coshocton Ethanol to re-open a plant shut down in 2008 due to the weak economy and high corn prices; and finalization of an agreement with CSX Transportation and the Ohio Department of Transportation concerning right-of-way acquisition for a railroad bridge replacement that’s part of CSXT’s National Gateway initiative.