BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) on March 9, 2016 announced that its 2016 capital expenditure program in Illinois will be about $180 million. The largest components of this year’s capital plan in the state will be for maintenance projects and improvements to BNSF facilities. Maintenance projects include replacing and upgrading rail, rail ties and ballast, which are the main components for the tracks on which BNSF trains operate. This year’s plan in Illinois brings capital investments more in line with forecasted customer freight service demand, the railroad says.
“Illinois is North America’s rail hub with nearly one-third of all U.S. and Canadian rail traffic flowing through the state,” said Jason Jenkins, BNSF General Manager of Operations, Chicago Division. “A safe and reliable network is critical to connecting products with key consumer markets whether they are in Illinois, across the nation or around the world. At BNSF we remain focused on operating a safe and reliable network so we can meet customer demands as well as the needs of communities near BNSF rail lines in the state.”
BNSF’s maintenance program in Illinois includes nearly 850 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work, the replacement of about 30 miles of rail and more than 280,000 ties, as well as signal upgrades for federally mandated positive train control (PTC). This year’s capital plan in the state also includes the continuation of a multi-year project initiated in 2015 at BNSF’s Logistics Park Chicago facility. When complete the project will add more parking capacity, additional cranes and more track for loading and unloading containers as well as track for arriving and departing trains. The 2016 plan follows more than $700 million invested by BNSF in its network in Illinois over the past three years.
The 2016 planned capital investments in the state are part of BNSF’s $4.3 billion network-wide capital expenditure program announced earlier this year. These investments include $2.8 billion to replace and maintain core network and related assets, approximately $500 million on expansion and efficiency projects, $300 million for continued implementation of PTC and more than $600 million for locomotives, freight cars and other equipment acquisitions.