US freight transportation company BNSF Railway has announced that it will invest approximately $223m for rail capacity improvement projects and maintenance in Texas, US, this year.
BNSF Texas Division operations general manager Keary Walls said: "This year’s substantial investments in Texas are a clear reflection of how important our operations in the state are to our overall network and our unwavering commitment to always operating safely for our people and the communities in which we operate.
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"This year’s planned expansion and maintenance projects will help give BNSF the capacity flexibility it needs to support our customers’ growing demands and connect Texas products to key markets."
Under this 2015 capital projects, BNSF will develop a south-east quadrant connection at Tenaha in order to use the Longview subdivision for southbound trains serving East Texas and Louisiana.
This year will also see the construction of a new siding in Lumberton, along with Centralized Traffic Control (CTC), to ensure better train flows and improve efficiency.
In addition, BNSF will start the two-year replacement project of the Trinity River bridge in Fort Worth and enhance parking and support tracks at the Alliance intermodal and automotive facilities in Haslet, as well as the Amarillo Automotive Facility.
As part of the maintenance work, the freight operator will also carry out 2,043 miles of track surfacing and undercutting work along with the replacement of 62 miles of rail and close to 245,500 ties.
The signal upgrades for federally mandated positive train control (PTC) will also include in this project.
This investment is part of the $6bn capital plan for 2015, the company’s largest planned capital expenditure in its history, announced in November last year.
