News

TENNESSEE SOUTHERN RAILROAD BEGINS TWO-YEAR $5 MILLION REHABILITATION PROGRAM

January 31, 2007

Boca Raton, Fla. --  Short line railroad owner Patriot Rail Corp. said today its Tennessee Southern Railroad (TSRR) line has commenced a two-year, combined $5 million track and bridge rehabilitation program. 

Patriot Rail plans to invest state grant and matching money into the Tennessee Southern in order to replace 70,000 crossties, add ballast, and surface the main line track from Columbia, Tennessee to the Tennessee - Alabama State Line.  Also included in the program, is the rehabilitation of the 5-mile long Monsanto Branch, and the Columbia Yard, with a total of 70 miles being upgraded in Tennessee.  The rehabilitation work will result in faster train operation with a higher level of safety.  Work on the project is underway, starting with 48,000 ties being installed, with the remainder of the ties being installed in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.  

Additionally, a two-year bridge rehabilitation program is underway, which will result in a concrete ballast deck bridge being installed and several other bridges being upgraded to handle 286,000 pound cars. Patriot Rail is also investing $500,000 in a program to rehabilitate the 15 miles of track in Alabama, between the Tennessee State Line and Florence, Alabama, installing 6,000 new crossties, and replacing caps and other bridge work on the Coal Island Bridge.

Tennessee Southern Railroad, headquartered in Mt. Pleasant, operates in Middle Tennessee and Northwestern Alabama. It interchanges rail traffic with CSX at Natco, Tennessee and with inland barge lines through its port facility at Florence, Alabama where freight is transferred to and from barges on the Tennessee River onto rail and truck.  The Tennessee Southern Railroad principally hauls wood products, fertilizer, potash, slag, rolled steel, plastics, roofing products, soapstone, and liquified natural gas. It currently has a staff of 28 employees and operates a fleet of eighteen locomotives.

For more information about Patriot Rail, contact  Wayne August at (561) 443-5315 or visit www.patriotrail.com.

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