The federal government is allocating nearly $24 million to improve Tennessee’s railways, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
“In Tennessee, the Tennessee Short Line Railroads Bridge Bundle Project will put more than $23.7 million to work upgrading approximately 42 bridges along 10 different short line railroads in need of immediate, extensive repair or replacement,” a Monday USDOT press release said. “The impacted bridges are located throughout the state, and their upgrades will strengthen the short line rail network and improve operational efficiency.”
Overall, the government is spreading $1.4 billion between 70 railway projects nationwide, according to the release.
USDOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the projects “historic investments.”
“Under President Biden’s leadership, we are making historic investments in rail, which means fewer accidents and delays, faster travel times, and lower shipping costs for the American people,” he said. “These projects will make American rail safer, more reliable, and more resilient, delivering tangible benefits to dozens of communities where railroads are located, and strengthening supply chains for the entire country.”
One of the projects, the North Central Appalachia Rail Enhancement and Rail Corridor Preservation Project, will “allow for increased speeds while improving safety, reliability, and capacity on a rail line that moves needed goods, including chemicals and hazardous materials, in rural areas of West Virginia and Ohio.”
President Joe Biden’s tenure in office was marked by one of the highest-profile train derailments in recent history.
In East Palestine, Ohio, 50 train carriages, 10 of which were carrying hazardous materials, derailed in February causing a manmade disaster of epic proportions.
Days later, Norfolk Southern, the railway responsible for the crash, released poisonous gasses to prevent a potential explosion, as reported by The Ohio Star.
Biden notoriously refused to visit the town, from which hundreds were evacuated, though he did declare the incident a “major disaster.”
Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) said cleanup from the wreck won’t be completed until next year.
“I’ve been incredibly frustrated with the pace of the cleanup, the fact that I was told the cleanup would be done in June and then told the cleanup would be done at the end of July and then told the cleanup now is going to be done sometime next year,” Vance said in August.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X / Twitter.
Photo “Tennessee Southern Railroad” by William Davis.
Well said, levelheadedconserrvative.
I am sure these projects need to be done, however, I don’t agree with the Federal government spending $1.4B, or even the $24M in TN. These tracks are used by the rail companies and should be maintained by the rail companies. It is part of the cost of dong business.
This is exactly the kind of pork spending that bloats our government expenditures.
PS: if the rail companies feel like the feds can do this more efficiently, then they should be charge a per mile usage tax whose funds are used exclusively for the maintenance and upgrade of the tracks (though I doubt the feds can do anything more efficiently than the private sector – and they would likely pilfer such a fund).