Westmoreland to upgrade another 4 miles of freight rail lines

Work could begin soon on a $2.3 million project to replace more than four miles of track on Westmoreland County’s freight rail system that services local business and industry.

Commissioners, acting as members of the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp., on Thursday hired Frontier Railroad Services of New Stanton to rehabilitate the first section of track along the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad. The project, according to officials, will upgrade a portion of the 33-mile freight line owned by the county’s development agency.

“We have to ensure we have the ability to deliver commerce and goods to our businesses and industries,” said Jason Rigone, executive director of the development agency. “It’s crucial we have safe and reliable assets. This railroad is a critical asset to the transportation infrastructure in our county.”

Frontier Railroad will install new welded rails along the first four miles of the system that runs from behind the Walmart store in Hempfield’s Greengate Centre plaza to Youngwood. The rehabilitation work is expected to be completed in September.

Rigone said the project is funded from a $1.6 million Pennsylvania Rail Transportation Assistance Program grant and another $709,000 from Carload Express, the private Oakmont-based company that operates the county’s rail system.

The rail work is the fourth phase of the project to upgrade the freight system’s infrastructure. Previous grants paid for installation of nearly nine miles of new rail and other improvements as well as installation of new surfaces, ballast and roadbed enhancements along another 17-mile section of the route.