Short Line/Regional – Page 17

Michigan Central Railway Will Initiate Freight Service in Michigan and Indiana

July 12, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Michigan Central Railway will initiate freight rail service over 384 route miles of rail line in Michigan and Indiana in first-quarter 2008 under a joint venture to be formed by Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and Watco Cos., the parent company of the newly formed Michigan Central. “The new Michigan Central will preserve and enhance freight rail service in southern Michigan,” said David C. Eyermann, Michigan Central’s interim president. “The company will be headquartered in Kalamazoo and will employ approximately 118 people. In the first year alone we plan to invest more than $6 million to improve

RailAmerica Goes Green: Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Line First to Utilize Environmentally-Friendly Locomotives

June 6, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

BOCA RATON, Fla.– RailAmerica, Inc. announced that its Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad (DGNO) is the first of its 42 roads to put the new N-ViroMotives to work on the line. The DGNO purchased two N-ViroMotives from National Railway Equipment Co. to help reduce fuel costs and lower emissions. Each locomotive is powered by two diesel engine-generator sets that produce 700 horsepower each; if they sit idle for more than 20 minutes, the engines shut down and can be restarted automatically by positioning the reverser lever, which controls the locomotive’s direction of movement. “We are quite happy to be the first

Train Carrying NASA Solid Booster Rockets Derails in Ala.

May 3, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

MYRTLEWOOD, Ala. — Six people were injured when a freight train carrying segments of solid rocket boosters for NASA derailed on Genesee & Wyoming Inc.’s Meridian & Bigbee Railroad (M&B). Five of the injured were accompanying the booster segments in a passenger car that derailed. Two of the five were airlifted to nearby hospitals with injuries that have been reported as not life-threatening. The sixth person injured was the locomotive engineer, who is an M&B employee. He sustained cuts and bruises and was treated and released yesterday. The derailment occurred as the eastbound train with two locomotives and 14 cars

St. Lawrence & Atlantic Becomes First New England Short-Line Rail Carrier Certified by Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)

April 13, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

GREENWICH, Conn. — Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) announced today that its St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SLR) and its Canadian sister Chemin de fer St. Laurent & Atlantique (SLQ) have been certified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as partners in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. The role of a C-TPAT partner is to continue to ensure that appropriate security measures, based upon risk analysis and consistent with C-TPAT security criteria, are maintained in a documented and verifiable format throughout international supply chains. “We see certification as a necessity in being a cross-border carrier, and the C-TPAT

FRA Issues RRIF Loans to DM&E and R.J. Corman Railroad Group

March 23, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration approved a Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan to a pair of short line railroads. The FRA gave one grant to the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) of $48.3 million to improve safety and service between Wall, South Dakota and Colony, Wyo. Rail line improvements will be made to accommodate heavier freight cars that haul grains, ethanol, and minerals. Specifically, 134 miles of track will be upgraded, including the replacement of 60 miles of rail between Wall and Owanka, and from Whitewood to the SD-WY state line. Major bridge repairs will occur

FRA Denies DM&E Powder River Basin Loan Application

February 26, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman today denied a $2.3 billion Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan application from the Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern (DM&E) railroad concluding it posed an unacceptably high risk to federal taxpayers. In a decision released Feb 26, Boardman found that while the Powder River Basin project met some of the RRIF program’s statutory requirements, there remained too high a risk concerning the railroad’s ability to repay the loan even with an appropriate combination of credit risk premiums and collateral. He said he was concerned by several factors, including the DM&E’s current highly

FRA Issues Final Environmental Review on Proposed DM&E Powder River Basin Project, New Safety and Air Quality Requirements Added

January 31, 2007 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced it has determined that the proposed Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern (DM&E) Powder River Basin project has met the requirements of the federal environmental review process, and outlined new measures the railroad must take to improve safety and air quality if the pending DM&E $2.3 billion Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan application is approved. The release of FRA’s final environmental review, known as a Record of Decision (ROD), marks the start of a 90-day clock within which the agency must approve or disapprove the DM&E loan application. The final decision

Appeals Court Upholds STB’s DM&E Decision

December 29, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – The Surface Transportation Board’s decision granting final approval to Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) to construct a 280-mile rail line into Wyoming’s Powder River Basin was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) is seeking the largest federal loan to a private company in American history — a $2.3 billion in tax money from to finance a major rail expansion project through the Midwest. The loan guarantee from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would allow the DM&E to expand and improve a rail line that

Genesee & Wyoming Reconfigures North American Operating Regions

December 27, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

GREENWICH, Conn. – Genesee & Wyoming Inc. has offered up a “rebalancing” of its North American operating regions, which company officials say is needed as a result of growth. “The value of our regional structure is its responsiveness to customers and business opportunities in each of our operating units,” said Mortimer B. Fuller III, Chairman and CEO of Genesee & Wyoming. “This realignment, effective Jan. 1, 2007, reflects our focus on maintaining these advantages.” Under the “rebalancing,” a new Southern Region will consist of 13 railroads that were formerly part of the company’s Rail Link Region, which has grown significantly

BNSF: DM&E Plan Could Cause Delays

December 16, 2006 Railfanning.org News Wire

FORT WORTH, Texas – If the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad were allowed to haul coal over the Powder River Basin (PRB) along the former I&M Rail Link’s (IMRL) line, it could cause substantial delays to time-sensitive BNSF Railway Co. trains at Savanna, Ill., the company said this week in a filing with the Surface Transportation Board. BNSF’s transcontinental main line between the Pacific Northwest and Chicago crosses the former IMRL line at grade at Savanna en route to the Chicago Gateway, where delays could be substantially increased by the addition of PRB coal trains regardless of what route into