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The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Rail Division recently obtained eight Federal Railroad Administration grants totaling more than $9 million.

The division will use proceeds to help finance various rail projects, such as track upgrades to accommodate heavier trains, locomotive emissions research, environmental studies and engineering work for new grade separations, and private crossing closures on the federally designated Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor.

Among the grants, the division received:
• $2.6 million to help the North Carolina Railroad Co. (NCRR) and Norfolk Southern Railway finance a $26.9 million project that calls for closing or improving private crossings along 27 miles of double track to be restored between Thomasville and Charlotte;
• $2.8 million to help the Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad fund a $4.7 million project that includes the replacement of five miles of lighter-gauge rail with a heavier gauge;
• $967,375 to CSX Transportation, Carolina Coastal Railway and the city of Greenville to help pay for a $9.1 million project that calls for relocating and expanding CSX’s yard, and building a new wye track;
• $1.1 million to help NCRR, NS and the town of Cary fund a $14.7 million project that includes a new grade separation;
• $883,200 to NS, CSX and Charlotte Area Transit System to help finance a $75.5 million project that calls for grade separating lines, and eliminating up to nine public and private crossings; and
• $552,000 to NCRR and NS to help fund an $8 million project that includes the construction of a new rail bridge and rail curve realignment.