BNSF Railway to invest in more track work
<p>An Amtrak passenger train slowly passes BNSF Railway workers who were replacing track and switch gear in Columbia Falls in this file photo.</p>
As part of a nationwide capital commitment of $4.3 billion this year, BNSF Railway plans to invest about $115 million on maintenance and rail capacity expansion projects in Montana.
The work includes more than 2,300 miles of track surfacing and undercutting work, replacement of nearly 100 miles of rail and about 310,000 ties, and signal upgrades for federally mandated positive train control.
BNSF also will expand capacity in Montana by constructing three new staging tracks about three miles east of Glasgow. Machine vision technology will be added at Miles City to help detect damaged equipment as a safety precaution.
“BNSF’s capital investments in Montana will help ensure our network is prepared for growing demand for freight rail,” BNSF chief executive officer Matthew Rose said. “We are focused on investing to meet our customers’ expectations and on expanding capacity where growth is occurring. Given the importance of a low cost supply chain to the U.S. economy, our privately funded rail infrastructure is well positioned to help all Montana industries compete in global markets.”
Across the U.S., BNSF will spend about $1 billion on locomotive, freight car and other equipment acquisitions, much of which will serve Montana.