Federal Board Rejects Major Freight Rail Proposal

The Great Lakes Basin Transportation rail proposal would've covered more than 260 miles.

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A proposed $2.8 billion freight rail line connecting LaPorte County to southern Wisconsin has been nixed. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board calls financial information from the Great Lakes Basin Transportation Inc. application for a 261-mile line "fundamentally flawed." Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report GLBT’s plans included eight connection points with other railroads in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.

In all, the proposal included 26 connections throughout Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. The Times reports it was designed to bypass congestion in Chicago and could have handled 110 trains a day.

The board says GLBT’s financial situation as presented in the application would’ve made it impossible to determine if the company could have met its obligations.

You can connect to the rejection filed by the Surface Transportation Board by clicking here and connect to more about the project from the Times of Northwest Indiana by clicking here.