(The following article by Stacie Hamel was posted on the Omaha World-Herald website on July 27.)
OMAHA, Neb. — A $32.7 million federal loan is expected to help the Iowa Interstate Railroad improve service to rural areas that rely on trains to ship corn, soybeans, steel, chemicals and other products to market.
The Federal Railroad Administration loan will be used for track improvements so the railroad can handle heavier freight cars.
The Iowa Interstate Railroad operates a 571-mile line between Council Bluffs and Chicago.
The Federal Railroad Administration said Tuesday that the loan is intended to help the railroad add shippers, in addition to companies such as Archer Daniels Midland, Maytag and Midland Iron & Steel that already use the line.
“This loan is not just an investment in the line itself, but also an investment in the local economy,” said Joseph H. Boardman, head of the railroad administration.
The funds are from the Railroad Rehabilitation Improvement Financing program, which is targeted to short-line and regional railroads.
The loan will pay to improve 266 miles of track, replace 180,000 cross ties, lay thousands of tons of new ballast and rebuild 95 highway-rail grade crossings between Council Bluffs and Bureau, Ill. A portion of the loan also will be used to purchase a rail line that the railroad is leasing and to refinance debt from previous capital improvement projects.
The Iowa Interstate Railroad connects to railroads such as the Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, and the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern lines.