R.J. Corman, KRM, receive state grants for railway repairs, upgrades
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Thursday, May 12, 2011, 5:15 p.m. — The Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven and the R.J. Corman Railroad are among the state’s short-line railroads that will share $3.1 million in state assistance grants announced today by Gov. Steve Beshear.
The grants are funded by the Short Line Railroad Assistance Fund maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The money is aimed at helping short line railroads make needed upgrades and repairs of rails, rail beds and railroad crossings.
The Kentucky Railway Museum will receive $190,350 for track and crossing rehab an repairs on its track in Nelson and LaRue counties.
The R.J. Corman Railroad will receive more than $1.1 million in two grants: $463,038 for a rail siding in Woodford County, and $645,828 for a rail line expansion at Lexington Center in downtown Lexington.
“This is an investment in Kentucky’s economy because freight railroads are indispensable to our economy,” Beshear said.
“Freight rail companies, including the eight short lines that operate in Kentucky, contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to our economy each year in the form of wages and benefits, and that’s only part of the story,” he said. “They provide business, industry and agriculture with a market connection that is safe, efficient and environmentally sound.”
The grants to both railroads represent half the cost of a project, with each railroad providing the remainder as a match.
The other grant recipients include:
Paducah & Louisville Railroad
$1 million for bridge replacement at Muldraugh, Hardin County.
$39,150 to rehab crossing on KY 1646 in Elizabethtown, Hardin County.
$34,740 to rehab crossing on KY 920 in Leitchfield, Grayson County.
$25,344 to rehab crossing on KY 907 in Louisville.
TennKen Railroad
$196,740 for rail replacement, Fulton County.
Louisville & Indiana Railroad
$183,635 for repair of Ohio River bridge pier, Jefferson County.
TransKentucky Transportation Railroad
$359,901 for tie replacement and rail bed rehab in Bourbon, Nicholas, Fleming and Mason counties.
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