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Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Governor Beshear Recognizes R.J. Corman Railroad Group for Kick-off of Tri-state Short Line Railroad Improvement Project
Project will improve rail infrastructure in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia
FRANKFORT, Ky. —Gov. Steve Beshear was joined today by officials of the R.J. Corman Railroad Group to celebrate the kick-off of the company’s Appalachian Regional Short Line Project.
The project, funded in part with a $17.5 million grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is creating jobs by rehabilitating railroad infrastructure in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Gov. Beshear, who endorsed and supported the grant application, was on hand today as a work crew placed ties on R.J. Corman track in downtown Frankfort.
“This project creates highly needed jobs and holds the promise of long-term benefits for Appalachia,” Gov. Beshear said. “The Appalachian region historically has suffered from limited connections to national transportation systems. Rehabilitating short line tracks will provide continued and much-needed access to the national rail network for customers who depend on rail freight movement.”
The majority of the federal grant, $12,964,443, is funding the Kentucky portion of the project. The R.J. Corman Railroad Group is putting up an additional $3,041,111 in funds, while the state is contributing $200,000.
In Kentucky, the project will result in improvements to 246 miles of aging short line track along the Memphis, Central Kentucky and Bardstown lines in 12 Kentucky counties – Bullitt, Clark, Fayette, Franklin, Jefferson, Logan, Nelson, Shelby, Scott, Todd, Warren and Woodford. Work includes rail and grade crossings and bridge and tunnel improvements.
R.J. Corman’s short lines serve 81 customers in Kentucky and carry more than 28,500 outbound carloads of aluminum, sand and other goods. That has the effect of removing nearly 101,000 trucks from Kentucky roadways each year. Improvements from the project will facilitate locations for new customers and avoid new road congestion and pollution.
Terms of the project are outlined in a grant agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The grant was awarded under the Recovery Act’s TIGER program – Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery.
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