$13.7M federal grant to boost railroad

COLFAX — A grant awarded to Washington State Department of Transportation for rail system upgrades will allow $115 million to go towards improving the Palouse River Coulee City railroad lines in Whitman County.

The U.S. The Federal Railroad Administration awarded $37.7 million toward Washington State Rural Rail Rehabilitation Phase III to improve supply chain efficiency and resiliency.

WSDOT Rail Freight and Port’s Divisions Capital and PCC Railway Program Manager Larry Rasmussen said the $37.7 million will go towards improvement towards the Washington Eastern Railroad going from Davenport to Wilbur.

“The project is going to replace 34 miles of rail and ties between Davenport to Wilbur,” said Rasmussen, noting it will replace 100-year-old lightweight worn rail with new heavier rail to better accommodate today’s modern 286,000 pound railcars.

Rasmussen said while the improvements are in Lincoln County they are leveraging state funds for federal funds for capital improvements on the entire Whitman County rail system.

“It frees up more of our state funds to be used on the other two branches,” said Rasmussen, noting that although the $37.7 million will go towards the Davenport to Wilbur, Central Washington branch.

The other two branches include the Palouse River Coulee City and the branch that runs from Thornton to Winona, Hooper through Winona to Colfax branch.

“Our system goals are to raise the entire system, the three systems, to a state of repair while building resiliency,” Rasmussen said.

The funds will come from the “Move Ahead Washington” initiative package, in which WSDOT received $150 million towards repairing the rail system.

Rasmussen said the system will focus on moving grain commodities.

“We’re just part of the supply chain in moving the local wheat to domestic and foreign markets,” he said, adding the funds further the project but there is still a way to go to improve the entire system.

WSDOT Rail, Freight and Ports Division Spokeswoman Janet Matkin said this is the third federal grant WSDOT rail division has received for the entire Palouse Coulee City Rail system.

“There are seven other projects, including some that are part of the PCC system, that went directly to those railroads,” said Matkin.