State officials released additional details today about the $87 million investment Union Pacific plans to make in Louisiana this year.
The company’s plans include $11 million of a more than $20 million rail project at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana Economic Development says. The project will allow port tenants like Louis Dreyfus Commodities and Drax Biomass to ship goods via 80-car trains, a significant increase from the previous port capacity of 45-car trains. Union Pacific spokesman Justin Jacobs says the rail carrier is upgrading spur tracks and tracks leading into the facility.
Union Pacific’s investment in Louisiana infrastructure initially announced on Monday, is just a portion of some $3.3 billion the rail carrier plans to spend on its U.S. network this year to enhance safety, operating efficiency and support customer service.
“A state-of-the-art rail network is crucial to our industrial economy and to the hundreds of thousands of Louisiana jobs supported by rail logistics,” Gov. John Bel Edwards says in a statement. “A high-performing intermodal network, supported by transportation leaders like Union Pacific, means that Louisiana’s goods and commerce can reach national and global markets in a seamless fashion. That keeps our people employed in competitive jobs and secures the future of those jobs.”
Other projects include the $16 million replacement of nearly 150,000 railroad ties and installation of over 56,000 tons of rock ballast on a rail line between Alexandria and Shreveport.
Union Pacific also plans to replace over 82,000 railroad ties and install nearly 40,000 tons of rock ballast as part of a $12 million project from Luling to Livonia. The company will spend an additional $18 million this year to improve railroad bridges in Louisiana.
