MARION, Ill. — Almost 150 Union Pacific Railroad employees are about halfway through a $3 million project to upgrade tracks between Benton and Metropolis, Ill., the Marion Daily Republican reports.
When the project is done, they will have laid 41,500 ties and distributed 24,000 tons of new rock on the line that runs through Marion.
“This is a routine maintenance and upgrade of the tracks,” said Mark Davis, spokesman for the Union Pacific Railroad.
When this part of the project is completed, many of the crossings along the right-of-way will be repaved at a cost of an additional $500,000.
“This branch line is mainly used to supply power plants with coal needed to fire power units,” said Davis.