BNSF Railway Co. expansion projects will include a new bypass connection at the Cherokee rail yard in west Tulsa. MICHAEL WYKE / Tulsa World
BNSF Railway Co. announced Monday it is spending $125 million to expand and improve its system in Oklahoma.
Projects will include a new bypass connection at the Cherokee rail yard in west Tulsa and extending a siding area on the carrier's tracks near Mannford.
"BNSF's capital investments in Oklahoma will help ensure our network is prepared for growing demand for freight rail," BNSF Chairman and CEO Matthew K. Rose said in a statement. "We are focused on investing to meet our customers' expectations and on expanding capacity where growth is occurring."
The Fort Worth-based company is also planning projects on its track between Sequoyah and DeGroat, a new siding area near Camp, which is between Mannford and Pawnee, a track connection at Avard in northwestern Oklahoma for the line that connects Tulsa to the company's Los Angeles-to-Chicago Transcon Route. Plans also include replacement of a rail bridge near Ponca City.
All the projects are slated to be finished by the end of this year.
"Given the importance of a low-cost supply chain to the U.S. economy, our privately funded rail infrastructure is well positioned to help Oklahoma compete in global markets," Rose said.
Oklahoma manufacturers and agricultural producers sent nearly 140,000 rail cars of cargo out of the state last year, and about 75 percent of that was industrial equipment and products.
Coming into Oklahoma, nearly half of BNSF's loads were coal.
BNSF, formerly known as Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, has 1,236 employees in Oklahoma and rail yards in Enid, Madill, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The company owns 1,037 miles of track in the state.
As part of its slate of projects, BNSF is replacing about 60 miles of track throughout the state and 225,000 railroad ties.
Some of the $125 million will also be used to purchase new locomotives and other equipment, the company said.
Another portion of the money will be used for "significant" safety upgrades on BNSF rail lines for signal upgrades. Those improvements are part of 2008 federal law requiring Positive Train Control, which uses GPS and other technologies to ensure trains are following the correct paths.
During the last three years, BNSF has spent about $350 million in maintenance and capacity expansion in Oklahoma.
The projects announced Monday are part of about $4.3 billion of capital spending for BNSF this year, including $2.3 billion on core assets.
BNSF is wholly owned by Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The Tulsa World is a part of BH Media Group, a division of Berkshire Hathaway.
BNSF's 2013 Oklahoma projects
Cherokee yard, Tulsa: Bypass connection for BNSF's line to Avard and Springfield, Mo.
Avard: Connection track for line between Tulsa and BSNF's Transcon route to Chicago and the Southwest.
Camp: New siding area
Morrison and Mannford: Siding area extensions
Sequoyah to DeGroat: 3.5 miles of a new second track
Ponca City: Bridge replacement
BNSF in Oklahoma
Employees: 1,236
Miles of track: 1,037 owned, 372 leased
Carloads starting in state: 140,000
Carloads moving through state: 4.2 million
Source: BNSF Railway Co.
Kyle Arnold 918-581-8380
kyle.arnold@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Upgrades on track
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