(The following story by Crystal Lindell appeared on the Capital Journal website on April 26.)
PIERRE, S.D. — Gov. Mike Rounds thinks it is only a matter of time before a regional railroad finds private funding to increase their services through South Dakota.
The Republican from Pierre discussed Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad’s planned expansion project, among other topics, at a Chamber of Commerce Luncheon at the Ramkota RiverCentre Tuesday and said he continues to support the project.
“It’s not a matter of voting and it’s not a matter of saying, ‘Do we believe it or not?’ It’s a matter of ‘Is there benefit there?’ The answer’s yes.” Rounds said. “Now is there detrimental impact as well? Sure. There’s no question about that, because when you come along side the track and you have more rail activity on the track, then being close to the track becomes less desirable. I recognize that.”
The DM&E project would rebuild 600 miles of track across South Dakota and Minnesota and add 260 miles of new track around the southern end of the Black Hills to reach Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. It would haul low-sulfur coal eastward to power plants, running through Fort Pierre and Pierre.
The development could result in 34 trains going through town a day.
DM&E had sought a $2.3 billion federal loan to help finance the project, but the Federal Railroad Administration rejected the application earlier this year.
Kevin Schieffer, DM&E CEO and president, has said he will look toward private funding for the project now, and Rounds said he thinks Schieffer will find it.
“I do know that they originally had thought years back that it would be something that could be privately funded,” Rounds said. “The economies right now, with coal in this country … still lend themselves to a very successful DM&E project.”
Rounds said he would like to continue to find ways for DM&E to build a bypass around Pierre and federal funding for such a bypass could be an option in the future.
“But at this stage of the game (a bypass is) a long ways off and the reason is because you would also have to have a location where you could do it,” he said.
Rounds said he has not met with any DM&E officials recently and the state has not been asked to give any funding to such a bypass.
“What we have said is that the state would assist in terms of trying to find some public funding for parts of a bypass if there was also an interest on the part of the DM&E,” he said. “That we would assist them in their funding needs, we’ve never done that, and I’m not prepared to do that today.”