Ohio Rail Development Commission Awarded U.S. Department of Transportation CRISI Grant to Expand Infrastructure on Indiana & Ohio Railway

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration has awarded a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Grant to the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) in the amount of $3,284,000. This grant, in combination with matching funds of $3,584,000 from the Indiana & Ohio Railway Company (IORY) and a $300,000 grant from ORDC will be used to rehabilitate the Port Delta Yard and construct mainline siding capacity in Delta, Ohio. The project involves the installation of approximately 14,000 rail ties, 25,000 feet of new rail, 43,000 tons of ballast and 11 turnouts on IORY, a short line freight railroad subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W)(NYSE:GWR).

Centered around Delta, Ohio are several steel manufacturing and processing businesses that provide products for U.S. industries including automotive, construction, agriculture and general manufacturing applications. Companies located in the area include North Star BlueScope Steel, Metal X and Fulton County Processing. These facilities depend on IORY freight rail service to receive raw materials, such as scrap steel and pig iron, and to ship finished products to their customers.

“Ohio is the second largest steel-producing state in the nation, and the industry is significant to the economy of Northwest Ohio. The Ohio Rail Development Commission is grateful that the Federal Railroad Administration recognized the value of this work to the regional economy. The project will rehabilitate and repurpose rail infrastructure to serve the current and emerging industries in Northwest Ohio,” said Matthew Dietrich, Executive Director of the ORDC.

“This $7.2-million joint investment by the FRA, IORY and ORDC will greatly improve the available Port Delta Yard capacity for the safe and efficient handling of its growing customer business in Delta,” said IORY President Martin Pohlod. “New rail, ties and ballast will restore the entire yard to service and go a long way to accommodating anticipated growth in Delta and Fulton County rail-based industry and processors. Furthermore, the additional mainline siding will enhance fluidity of our line of road, terminal and customer switching operations, and the improved Port Delta terminal also will allow more efficient and timely service for traffic moving via the northern portion of the IORY to the Canadian National interchange in Flat Rock, Mich. The IORY looks forward to making these improvements, which will make it more effective in earning the transportation business of its present and future customers, and we thank the ORDC, FRA and our customers for their support in seeking and now implementing this proactive, forward-looking investment in railroad service.”