NCDOT awards funds to upgrade short-line rail infrastructure

The North Carolina Department of Transportation yesterday announced it awarded $2.1 million in matching grant funds to five short lines for rail infrastructure projects.

The grants are funded by the NCDOT Freight Rail and Rail Crossing Safety Improvement Program. The five railroads will match the grants to fund a combined $4.2 million in projects designed to improve 78.2 miles of track in the state, NCDOT officials said in a press release.

Those receiving funds and their grant amounts are:

• Chesapeake & Albemarle Railroad, $561,248 for improvements to rail, track and a siding along the main line in Pasquotank, Chowan and Camden counties;
• Carolina Coastal Railway, $525,000 for bridge improvements and track upgrades along the main line and Nash County corridors in Beaufort, Greene, Johnston, Martin, Nash, Pitt, Wake, Warren, Washington and Wilson counties;
• Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway Co., $479,600 for drainage system improvements on the Piedmont Division in Montgomery County;
• Alexander Railroad Co., $356,000 for improvements on the mainline corridor in Iredell County; and
• Charlotte Western Railroad, $174,250 for track upgrades along the mainline in Gaston County.