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The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) recently announced grant awards totaling $6.6 million for eight freight-rail projects. The grants are administered through the NJDOT Rail Freight Assistance Program.

The state will provide:
• $1.56 million to SMS Rail Service Inc. for the "Pureland" upgrade (railroad's share is $173,783);
• $1.35 million to Salem County's short line to rehabilitate track (railroad's share is $150,000);
• $999,166 to JP Rail, doing business as Southern Railroad Co. of N.J., to rehabilitate a Pleasantville secondary track to FRA Class 2 standards (railroad's share is $111,018);
• $875,032 to the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad Corp. (NYSW) to rehabilitate a main track between Butler and Stockholm (railroad's share is $97,226);
• $609,750 to Morris County for Dover and Rockaway repairs (railroad share is $67,750);
• $513,585 to the Winchester & Western Railroad for the Seashore Branch runaround (railroad's share is $57,065);
• $482,069 to NYSW to build a 2,241-foot siding (railroad's share is $53,563); and
• $202,500 to the Belvidere & Delaware River Railway for an advance track at three bridges.

NJDOT also awarded 13 local infrastructure fund grants and four airport improvement program grants.

"The range of these grants illustrate how diverse modes of travel give shape to New Jersey's robust transportation network," said NJDOT Commissioner James Simpson in a prepared statement. "These grants promote air, rail and vehicular transportation, each of which plays a role in driving our economy."