|
Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Governor Beshear Announces Short Line Railroad Project Awarded More than $17.5 Million Stimulus Grant
Multi-state project will create 100 new jobs
 FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear today announced that a project to rehabilitate short line railroads and create 100 jobs has been awarded a $17,551,028 federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Kentucky was the lead state in applying for the regional TIGER grant, which will help rehabilitate short line railroads owned by R.J. Corman Railroad Group in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. The grant was approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation and announced by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray H. LaHood on the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s signing of the ARRA Stimulus bill.
“This project will improve the transportation infrastructure of a three-state section of Appalachia, as well as create badly needed jobs,” Gov. Beshear said. “It will also provide people in our great state with a more livable and sustainable community by alleviating congestion, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and lowering our dependence on foreign oil. R.J. Corman Railroad Group is one of Kentucky’s most innovative corporate citizens, and I commend the company for its vision. I also thank Congressmen Ben Chandler, Hal Rogers and Ed Whitfield for their support of our regional application.”
The Commonwealth of Kentucky will be providing a $200,000 grant toward the project and the R.J. Corman Railroad Group will contribute an additional $3.04 million, which together will meet 20 percent of the total $16.2 million Kentucky project cost.
R.J. Corman has committed to hiring 100 employees for the project. The company, which is based in Nicholasville, will be scheduling a job fair for prospective employees in early March. The jobs will be targeted at unemployed workers.
The Kentucky portion of the project accounts for $12,964,443 of the TIGER grant and involves rehabilitation of 200 miles of aging track. These lines in Kentucky currently serve 81 customers and carry over 28,500 outbound carloads of aluminum, sand and other goods annually, keeping more than 100,000 trucks off Kentucky roads and highways each year.
Examples of rehabilitation efforts include replacement of crossties, resurfacing of line and repair of bridges and underpasses. The grant includes $2,820,458 for rehabilitation of railway in Tennessee and $1,766,127 for the project in West Virginia.
Short lines are smaller freight railroads that provide local businesses with a link to the national network of Class I railroads. These short lines allow businesses in Kentucky to access global markets in a cost effective manner. R.J. Corman Railroad Group operates short lines in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
TIGER grants were a provision of the ARRA of 2009, which was enacted to generate or preserve American jobs. Each state was apportioned Recovery Act stimulus funds for transportation infrastructure. In addition, a grant pool of $1.5 billion was set aside for TIGER discretionary grants, for which states could compete.
Freight rail transportation projects were among those eligible for the grants. The grants were awarded for capital investments in surface transportation projects with a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region.
###
|