Rail Company Details Millions in Improvements
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Rail Road Company says it is investing millions of dollars to upgrade the north end of its Indianapolis Subdivision. The company says the improvements will allow trains to pass through more quickly and quietly.
July 8, 2014
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — The Indiana Rail Road Company (INRD) is investing millions of dollars in private capital on the north end of its Indianapolis Subdivision this summer, and the results will greatly benefit the general public: faster, quieter-moving trains and smooth at-grade road crossings.
In the wake of multi-million dollar investments in new rail, crossties and rock ballast, INRD will on July 15 increase the speed limit for trains to 30 mph for the portion of its mainline between West Street and Stop 11 Road. Most of this 6-mile segment of railroad has had a speed limit of only 10 mph since the railroad’s founding in 1986.
The most notable benefit for southern Marion and Johnson County residents will be the greatly-reduced time required for trains to pass at-grade road crossings. It takes a mile-long train 6 minutes to pass a grade crossing when running at 10 mph. At 30 mph, a train of the same length will pass in 2 minutes.
Once ongoing track improvements are complete, the entire Indianapolis-Bargersville segment will operate at 30 mph, and thanks to the installation of continuously-welded rail – quarter-mile strands of rail without joints – the traditional “clickety-clack” of steel wheels on jointed-rail will be replaced by much quieter passage of each train.
The Indiana Rail Road has also completely rebuilt 10 road crossings in Indianapolis: West Street, Bluff Road, Southport Road, and Troy, Epler, Sumner, Hanna and Edgewood Avenues. County Line Road and Stop 11 Road will be renewed by the end of August.
In Johnson County, the railroad has or soon will complete full replacement of Smith Valley Road, County Road 144 in Bargersville, Peterman Road, State Road 44, and County Roads 250N, 100N and 100S.
Total investment for the 2014 grade crossing replacements – at no cost to taxpayers – is approximately $990,000.
“By 2016, the 30th anniversary of our company, Indiana Rail Road will have invested more than $200 million of our own private capital to create a state-of-the-art, heavy-haul transportation system capable of delivering millions of tons of commerce consumed in Indiana and made by Hoosiers,” said INRD Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Hoback. “We continue to invest with an eye on future economic development opportunities.”
The Indianapolis-based Indiana Rail Road Company is a privately-held, 500-mile railroad which hauls the equivalent of more than 800,000 truckloads of consumer, industrial and energy products each year.
INRD is also active in the community, operating the popular Santa Train, serving as a major sponsor of “Jingle Rails” at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, and the Indiana Historical Society’s Indiana Bicentennial Train, and providing education and public safety-related community grants. For more information, visit the Indiana Rail Road online at www.inrd.com or on Twitter and Facebook.
Source: Indiana Rail Road Co.