BNSF to replace 280k ties, 30 miles of rail in Illinois

BNSF's 2016 capital expenditure program in Illinois will be about $180 million, which will focus on maintenance projects and improvements to BNSF facilities. The railroad says this year's plan in Illinois brings capital investments more in line with forecasted customer freight service demand.

BNSF also detailed its plans for Colorado, North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Minnesota, Missouri, Washington state and California in the past few weeks.

“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 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.