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On Friday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced the State Transportation Commission approved 24 grants totaling about $18.6 million for various freight-rail infrastructure improvement projects, many of which involve short lines.

About $13.2 million in grants will be distributed through the Capital Budget/Transportation Assistance Program and $5.3 million will be provided through the state's Rail Freight Assistance Program. The grants, which leverage $6.8 million in local investments, are administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's Bureau of Rail Freight, Ports and Waterways.

"Pennsylvania has the highest number of short rail lines in the country, which helps keep goods moving and our economy going," said Corbett in a prepared statement. "When we invest in these rail projects, we help ensure a solid infrastructure is in place to support the jobs relying on these services."

The grant amounts and recipients include:
• $3.5 million to the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority to replace a rail bridge over Loyalsock Creek that was destroyed by flooding in 2011;
• $2.1 million to the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad to rehabilitate track in Riker Yard and expand track in Homer City;
• $1.6 million to Allegheny Valley Railroad Co. for the final phase of the Glenwood Yard reconstruction project;
• $1.2 million to Fay-Penn Industrial to rehabilitate track on a Southwestern Pennsylvania Railroad line;
• $1.1 million to the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Co. to construct a new siding;
• $700,000 to Lehigh Railway L.L.C. to rehabilitate five bridges and replace worn rail and deteriorated ties;
• $465,500 to East Penn Railroad L.L.C. to rehabilitate track, and another $231,000 to the short line to expand an existing siding and rebuild former yard tracks along the Lancaster Northern Siding;
• $448,000 to Landisville Railroad L.L.C. to rehabilitate track;
• $355,000 to Alumnisource L.L.C. to re-establish a connection between the
company's facility and a CSX Transportation line;
• $87,880 to Lewisburg & Buffalo Creek Railroad to rehabilitate the Buffalo Creek Bridge and St. George Street overpass in Lewisburg Borough; and
• $65,250 to Oil Creek & Titusville Lines Inc. to rehabilitate a bridge.