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The Indiana Rail Road Co. (IRR) recently obtained a new customer. Last month, Palastine, Ill.-based Lincolnland Agri-Energy opened a new ethanol plant on the 155-mile regional’s line in east central Illinois.

To accommodate the new rail traffic, IRR is spending $500,000 to build three new tracks to expand its existing nine-track rail yard.

Lincolnland Agri-Energy is one of 69 U.S. ethanol plants that distills corn into ethanol, an gasoline additive that makes fuel burn more cleanly. With recent increases in gasoline prices, the ethanol industry is expected to grow, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

IRR will transport about 50 million gallons of refined ethanol and 150,000 tons of distillers’ dried grains with solubles that Lincolnland is expected to produce annually. Eventually, the railroad plans to transport bushels of corn from Midwestern farms to Lincolnland, as well.