Brown Announces More than $11 Million for Ohio Rail Development Commission

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded a combined $11,569,363 in grant funding to The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) through its Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program.

DOT Funds for ORDC are broken down below:

· $4,530,546 for a project to fund rail line rehabilitation repairs on the Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad (CFE) to install new ballast and ties, convert 10.8 track miles from jointed rail to continuous welded rail (CWR), replace 7 turnouts and rehabilitate 1 turnout, and reconstruct yard tracks between Lima, Ohio and Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

· $700,050 to fund rehabilitation of 25 miles of mainline rail on the Class III Youngstown & Southeastern Railroad (YSSR) between Struthers, Ohio and Signal, Ohio, including installation of approximately 10,100 ties, as well as surfacing, switch renewal, bolt tightening, and at-grade crossing improvements.

· $2,226,315 to make improvements to four different corridors owned by Class III R.J. Corman Group (RJC) across Ohio.

· $4,112,452 to upgrade 10 miles of 80-pound rail with 132/136 pound rail, and replace 29,000 ties on 29 miles of rail line on the Napoleon, Defiance & Western (NDW) railroad between Woodburn, Indiana and Defiance, Ohio.

"When our communities have up-to-date infrastructure, it helps them grow and support local jobs," said Brown. "These projects will have a significant economic impact across Ohio."

The CRISI program invests in rail infrastructure, providing more than $56 million in grants to 16 states in 2019. These grants will provide communities with greater accessibility to reliable and efficient rails across the state, while also improving safety measures for freight and passenger trains.

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