Pennsylvania provides grants for numerous freight-rail projects

The Pennsylvania Transportation Commission yesterday approved $25.8 million in grants to help railroads and shippers operating in the state improve freight-rail infrastructure.

The grants are administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's (PennDOT) Bureau of Rail Freight, Ports and Waterways. Sixty-seven railroads operate in the state, the nation's highest total, according to PennDOT.

"Having reliable investments will help even more businesses and facilities expand and operate because they know Pennsylvania values transportation," said Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett in a press release.

The grants include:
• $10 million to Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refining and Marketing to construct nearly 30,000 feet of track and a rail-car maintenance area, install 16,000 feet of pipeline to transport crude oil from an offloading facility to a storage tank area and complete yard improvements;
• $3.9 million to R.J. Corman Railroad Group's Pennsylvania Lines to renew track in two tunnels, install ties and expand an existing building in Clearfield Yard for equipment maintenance;
• $2.8 million to Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. to remove deteriorated rail, install nearly 13 miles of new rail, and improve other track and four public crossings;
• $2.6 million to Greater Erie Industrial Development Corp. to acquire an existing sidetrack from the Port of Erie and construct three new sidetracks for rail-car storage, unloading and transfers, and a locomotive run-around;
• $1.3 million to Allegheny Valley Railroad Co. to improve track between Bruceton and Washington to accommodate heavier traffic;
• $1.1 million to Strasburg Railroad to improve track and a grade crossing to increase capacity in its East Strasburg yard;
• $1.1 million to Three Rivers Marine Rail Terminal L.P. to build 8,000 feet of track and three switches to enhance storage tracks from its mainline to become a destination for coal and sand used for gas drilling;
• $840,000 to the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad to install new ties on 14.5 miles of the Oil City branch and replace nine grade crossings;
• $644,815 to East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc. to construct a new three-track rail spur off of Norfolk Southern Railway's east mainline; and
• $463,400 to the Pennsylvania Northeast Railroad to rehabilitate 10 miles of track, repair six switches, install ties and complete other infrastructure improvements.