TEMPLE, Texas — Patriot Rail Corp., a short line and regional freight railroad holding company, and the city of Temple Texas announced that Patriot’s newly-formed rail subsidiary, Temple & Central Texas Railway, has been awarded an exclusive long-term license agreement to provide rail switching and other services to customers at Central Pointe Rail Park located in Temple, Texas.
Central Pointe Rail Park, owned by the City of Temple, is a 3,500-acre industrial park with more than 50 tenants. Located in central Texas midway between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, the Park has rail service, utilities, developed streets and its own fire station, airport and medical center.
Within the Park there are approximately 10 miles of rail line currently serving four customers. TC will interchange traffic with Class I rail carrier Burlington Northern Santa Fe and expects to move more than 6,000 carloads in its first year of operation.
Patriot’s exclusive agreement, which commenced August 15, 2009, provides TC with the exclusive rights to provide rail switching and other rail-related services within the Park for up to 22 years.
“We are excited about this new relationship with Patriot Rail and the Temple & Central Texas Railroad,” said David Blackburn, Temple’s city manager. “We considered several railroad operators for this business, but what set Patriot apart was their experience and enthusiasm for identifying and attracting new rail-served customers for the Park. As business continues to grow at the Park, there is a significant opportunity to increase the number of customers utilizing TC’s rail service.”
The city of Temple, together with the Temple Economic Development Corp., established the Temple Reinvestment Zone and Temple Enterprise Zone to provide existing and potential Park customers with tax incentives for relocating to Temple.
“We look forward to the Temple & Central Texas Railroad, Patriot Rail’s sixth railroad, providing Central Pointe Rail Park customers with consistent, safe and reliable rail service,” said Stan Wlotko, senior vice president of operations of Patriot Rail Corp. “In addition, this region of Texas is poised for tremendous growth as new industry and commerce relocate to Temple over the next several years. Through our preliminary marketing efforts, Patriot has already identified over 20 potential new rail customers which could add substantial new business for the Park within the next several years. TC will continue to work jointly with the City and the TEDC to develop initiatives designed to drive new business to the Park.”
Patriot Rail Corp. is a short line and regional freight railroad holding company based in Boca Raton, Florida. The Company owns and operates six short line freight railroads comprising 331 total rail miles in eight states – the Tennessee Southern Railroad in Tennessee and Alabama; the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railway in Montana; the Utah Central Railway in Utah; the Sacramento Valley Railroad in California; the Louisiana North West Railroad in Louisiana and Arkansas; and the Temple & Central Texas Railway in Texas.
