The Indiana Rail Road Co. (INRD) said Tuesday, July 8, 2014 it will increase the speed limit for trains to 30 mph for the portion of its mainline between West Street and Stop 11 Road, beginning July 15.
Most of this six-mile segment of railroad has had a speed limit of only 10 mph since the railroad's founding in 1986, INRD said. The improvement results from 'investing millions of dollars in private capital on the north end of [INRD's] Indianapolis Subdivision this summer, and the results will greatly benefit the general public: faster, quieter-moving trains and smooth at-grade road crossings," INRD said.
The most notable benefit for southern Marion County and Johnson County, Ind., residents will be "the greatly reduced time required for trains to pass at-grade road crossings. It takes a mile-long train six minutes to pass a grade crossing when running at 10 mph. At 30 mph, a train of the same length will pass in two minutes," INRD said.
Once ongoing track improvements are complete, the entire Indianapolis-Bargersville segment will operate at 30 mph, and thanks to the installation of continuously-welded rail (CWR), operations will be quieter as well.
INRD also said it has "completely rebuilt 10 road crossings in Indianapolis: West Street, Bluff Road, Southport Road, and Troy, Epler, Sumner, Hanna, and Edgewood Avenues. County Line Road and Stop 11 Road will be renewed by the end of August.
In Johnson County, the railroad has or soon will complete full replacement of Smith Valley Road, County Road 144 in Bargersville, Peterman Road, State Road 44, and County Roads 250N, 100N and 100S." INRD's total investment for these upgrades "is approximately $990,000," the railroad said.
"By 2016, the 30th anniversary of our company, Indiana Rail Road will have invested more than $200 million of our own private capital to create a state-of-the-art, heavy-haul transportation system capable of delivering millions of tons of commerce consumed in Indiana and made by Hoosiers," said INRD founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Hoback. "We continue to invest with an eye on future economic development opportunities."
Indianapolis-based INRD, operating over 500 miles of right-of-way, hauls the equivalent of more than 800,000 truckloads of consumer, industrial and energy products each year. In 2012 INRD was honored as the Railway Age Regional Railroad of the Year.