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Rail authority, Ellis & Eastern plan repairs on local track

Subhead
Nobles and Rock county delegates to lobby feds for grant
By
Mavis Fodness

Members of the Buffalo Ridge Regional Rail Authority (BRRRA) will travel to Washington, D.C., next month to lobby for improvements on the short line railroad.
The local rail authority, comprised of Rock and Nobles county commissioners, applied for a $14.4 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to upgrade the 41-mile rail line between Manley in Rock County and Worthington in Nobles County.
 
Rail needs $33.9 million in repairs; Ellis and Eastern will pay $19.5 million
Ellis and Eastern (EE) of Sioux Falls leases the rail line from the local rail authority and transports ethanol, liquid livestock feed and other products to the Union Pacific Railroad near Worthington for final destination delivery.
Ellis and Eastern also plans to rehab the rail line that extends into South Dakota and connects with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. That portion of the track is currently unusable.
Ellis and Eastern representative Dan Kippley said the railroad, which dates back to 1905, needs $33.9 million in improvements.
EE and other sources are matching 58 percent of the project’s total costs or $19.5 million.
Paired with the $14.4 million grant, the rehab project would be totally complete.
“We are looking at a 100-year investment,” Kippley said. “Once we get it up to where we need to get it, we will be rock solid for a long time. … long past our lifetimes.”
Ellis and Eastern began leasing the rail line from the BRRRA in 2017.
In three years it has increased traffic on the line, but future growth is capped due to the rail line’s poor conditions that limit the speed and number of cars its engines can pull in a day.
“Our line went from very light usage to they roll every day now,” said Commissioner Jody Reisch. “It’s nice to have in our economic development house … a viable rail system, something that is being invested in.”
 
BRRRA seeks support from Rep. Hagedorn
At their Jan. 9 meeting members of the BRRRA selected delegates to lobby in Washington. The group includes two Rock County commissioners, two Nobles County commissioners and Rock County administrator Kyle Oldre.
They will attend the National County Legislative Conference Feb. 28-March 4. March 4 is National Rail Day on Capitol Hill.
No local taxpayer dollars are earmarked for the rehab project. BRRRA will pay for the delegation’s trip to Washington, D.C.
The decision to send lobbyists came after Rock County commissioners discussed the rail line at their Jan. 7 meeting with Neal Breitbarth, who serves as Congressman Jim Hagedorn’s deputy district director.
“The congressman is very interested — he talks about that a lot — we need more money for infrastructure in the United States,” Breitbarth said. “There are so many things that need to be fixed — rail, bridges.”
Local Rock County leaders asked Breitbarth to take the railroad improvement message back to Hagedorn for his support.
“We are asking for guidance. This is Rock County’s first substantial ask to the federal government,” Oldre said.
BRRRA is looking at the future of the more than 100-year-old rail line and the upgrades needed to meet current transportation standards.
Officials are determined to keep the railroad viable.
“To me the smart move is to update the line,” Oldre said. “It is safer for everyone, an efficient way to move product.”
FRA grant recipients will be announced this spring.

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