Seventeen short line railroads will soon be making improvements to their infrastructure thanks to approximately $16.7 million in matching grant funds being awarded as part of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Freight Rail and Rail Crossing Safety Improvement program (FRRCSI).

FRRCSI supports rail infrastructure health, safety and performance throughout the state, enabling NCDOT to partner with rail companies on improvement projects. This partnership helps railroads meet customer needs in an efficient and cost-effective manner while also preparing them for growing service demands and partnerships with new businesses and industries across the state.

The projects will provide more than $32 million in rail infrastructure improvements statewide. Projects awarded funding and their estimated total costs, including railroad matching funds, are as follows:

• Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Company (Total Cost: $3 million) — The project will construct two phases of track spur and storage at the ACWR shop facility, construct two double-ended passing sidings and install new crossties in various locations in Moore and Montgomery counties.
​​
• Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Company (Total Cost: $9.1 million) — The project will construct and improve nearly 32,000-feet of track and install new crossties in various locations over 21-miles of track in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Stanly, Montgomery and Moore counties. Additional project components include construction of a storage siding track, three double-ended sidings, an industrial spur and a lead track in a switching yard. A crossover and a track for fueling and sanding will be extended, plus two culverts will be improved.

• Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Company (Total Cost: $1.2 million) — This project in Stanly County will construct a new rail siding extension, a new rail yard and improve a highway-rail grade crossing.

• Aberdeen and Rockfish (Total Cost: $0.8 million) — These improvements will install new rail and crossties, surfacing and tamping, and make highway-rail crossing surface upgrades on rail corridor where heavy loads are transported in Hoke County.

• Alexander Railroad Company (Total Cost: $0.6 million) —
The project will improve track and switches, install new crossties, resurface track, relocate a siding and consolidate highway-rail grade crossings in Iredell County.

• Atlantic and Western (Total Cost: $1.4 million) — The project will replace and upgrade rail, install new crossties, rehabilitate grade crossings and provide bridge improvements in Lee County.

• Atlantic Railway (Total Cost: $0.4 million) — The project will install new crossties, provide bridge improvements and improve sections of the corridor for service in Stanly County.

• Blue Ridge Southern Railroad (Total Cost: $0.7 million) —
The project will provide bridge improvements and modernization along the Canton and Skyland subdivisions in Buncombe and Haywood counties.

• Blue Ridge Southern Railroad (Total Cost: $0.2 million) — The project will complete a second phase of slope stabilization and improvements to the Balsam Mountain slope in the Canton subdivision in Jackson County.

• Blue Ridge Southern Railroad (Total Cost: $0.7 million) — The project will upgrade turnouts in the Canton yard in Haywood County.

• Blue Ridge Southern Railroad (Total Cost: $0.3 million) —  The project will upgrade an eight-track grade crossing and install new rail in the Canton subdivision in Haywood County.

Caldwell County (Total Cost: $0.7 million) — The project will install new crossties, switch ties and rail on the Hickory Runaround siding, renew grade crossings, address drainage issues, and improve embankment roadbed shoulders in Burke, Catawba and Caldwell counties.

• Carolina Coastal Railway (Total Cost: $2.1 million) — The project will install new bridge ties and crossties, plus improve bridges on the Main Line and Rocky Mount line in Beaufort, Pitt, Greene, Nash and Wilson counties.

• Chesapeake & Albemarle (Total Cost: $0.8 million)
The project will make track, bridge and other improvements in Chowan, Pasquotank, Camden and Currituck counties.

• Great Smoky Mountains (Total Cost: $1.7 million) — The project will upgrade rail, install new crossties, provide ballast and tamping, improve bridges and provide ultrasonic testing and bridge inspections in Jackson, Graham, Macon and Swain counties.

• Laurinburg and Southern (Total Cost: $1 million) — This project will replace and upgrade rail, upgrade switches and improve crossing surfaces in Scotland County.

• North Carolina and Virginia (Total Cost: $2 million) — The project will replace and upgrade rail, install new crossties, ballast and resurface track, and repair bridges in Bertie, Hertford and Northampton counties.

• North Carolina State Ports Authority (Total Cost: $0.8 million) — The project will make improvements on track operated by the Carolina Coastal Railway and install new bridge ties and a new locking mechanism on the movable bridge connecting the main port to Radio Island in Carteret County.

• Piedmont and Northern (Total Cost: $1 million) — This project will complete construction of track storage and a second switching lead to a transload facility in Gaston County.

• Red Springs and Northern (Total Cost: $0.4 million) — The project will install new crossties, culverts and surface track in Robeson County.

• RJ Corman (Total Cost: $1 million) — Improvements include new track materials, track surfacing, new crosstie installation, new ballast and improvements to grade crossings in Columbus County.

• Wilmington Terminal (Total Cost: $1.2 million) — The project will upgrade rail on the lead track and turnouts, install new crossties, and ballast and surface track in New Hanover County.

• Yadkin Valley (Total Cost: $1.5 million) — The project will replace and upgrade rail, install new crossties, provide ballast and surface track in Forsyth, Stokes, Surry and Wilkes counties.