Heart of Georgia Railroad to Receive $6M Replacing 18 Miles of Rail

From the U.S. Department of Transportation

Biden Administration Announces Over $368 Million in Grants to Improve Rail Infrastructure, Enhance and Strengthen Supply Chains

Thursday, June 2, 2022

46 Projects in 32 States to Modernize Rail Across Rural & Urban Communities Will Enable Economic Growth

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced over $368 million in Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program funds to 46 projects in 32 states and the District of Columbia. These investments will play a crucial role in modernizing our country’s rail infrastructure and strengthening supply chains, helping to reduce congestion and get people and goods where they need to go quickly and more affordably. The program will create good-paying jobs and benefit urban and rural communities across the country.

The selected projects announced today will not only improve and expand passenger rail and fund conventional and high-speed rail, but they will also increase supply chain resilience and fluidity, support short line railroads, invest in new technology and safety advancements, and benefit rail industry workforce development and training activities – helping to create jobs and increase economic growth.
 
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has nearly tripled funding for this critical rail infrastructure program - to $1 billion a year for the next five years. Strengthening supply chains and increasing the productive capacity of the economy are key tenets of President Biden’s plans to get goods from ships to shelves more quickly and lower costs for American families.   

"Americans deserve a world-class rail system that allows people and goods to get where they need to go more quickly and affordably, while reducing traffic and pollution on our roads," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "We're proud to award these grants to improve passenger rail for riders and strengthen the freight rail that makes our supply chains and our economy work."
  
“This round of CRISI grants – one of the largest ever – is a major step forward for the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to revitalize and rebuild the country’s infrastructure,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. “These awards will allow FRA to support rail projects that lay the groundwork for future economic growth.” 
 
CRISI aims to advance intercity passenger and freight rail projects that promote FRA’s key goals of safety, economic growth, transportation equity, and sustainable and resilient infrastructure. CRISI-funded projects will enhance multi-modal connections, address slow orders, and fix up 100-year-old track to speed up the movement of goods from ports to rail to trucks to shelves. As the nation continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, these upgrades and expansions will help state and local governments and rail carriers meet renewed travel demand and strengthen supply chains.  

Examples of projects funded this year FY2021 Selections:

  • Heart of Georgia Americus Sub Upgrade Project (Up to $6,190,137) Georgia Department of Transportation
    • The proposed project will replace approximately 18 miles of rail, 2,750 crossties, and make many more rail upgrades between Preston, GA and Cordele, GA. These improvements will accommodate 286,000-pound loads and improve reliability, efficiency, and safety by eliminating slow-orders along 51 miles of Heart of Georgia Railroad (HOG) lines that connect at the Cordele Inland Port.