Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railway wins grant for track project

The Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railway (NKCR) will use a $4.5 million federal grant to renovate more than 100 miles of track in western Nebraska and eastern Colorado, railroad officials announced last week.

Managed by OmniTRAX Inc., the NKCR will install 42,595 ties and 15,990 tons of ballast, and resurface 562,848 feet of track on the line between Holdrege, Nebraska, and Sterling, Colorado.

The railroad obtained the grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2020 Consolidated Rail infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. A private-sector match also will help fund the project, OmniTRAX officials said in a press release.

The federal funds "will improve an important freight-rail line between Nebraska and Colorado, which is welcome news for our state's communities, ag producers and businesses," said U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.).