NOPB, Watco subsidiary gain grants through new Louisiana program

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) last week announced the first projects chosen to receive $3 million in grant funding under the state’s inaugural Class II and III Rail Infrastructure Improvement Program.

The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) will receive $1.5 million to construct a transloading industrial park in the eastern part of the Crescent City, and Watco’s Louisiana Southern Railroad (LAS) will receive $1.5 million for track, rail and bridge upgrades between Hodge and Gibsland.

The infrastructure improvements will increase fluidity and modernize the respective rail networks, support commerce and the supply chain, and increase the resiliency needed to combat climate change issues, DOTD officials said in a press release. The grants became available under the new Short Line Rail Infrastructure Investment Program.

“Our freight- and passenger-rail infrastructure needs improving if we want to continue successfully moving goods throughout the state. These grants will do just that: improve upgrades on the tracks of our rail infrastructure, support transloading and increase rail cars moving throughout our state and ports,” said DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson.

Construction on the NOPB’s transloading park is expected to begin in summer 2023. The park is the first joint infrastructure venture between the short line and its owner, the Port of New Orleans, and is designed to enable new and current operators to enter or expand in the New Orleans market.

LAS interchanges with Kansas City Southern at three points in Louisiana: Gibsland, Pineville and Sibley. The 195-mile short line — which launched in 2005 — handles such commodities as paper products, aggregates, oils and consumer products.