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9/30/2026
The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) has approved nearly $1.6 million in grant funding to support two rail infrastructure improvements in Richland and Guernsey counties, in Ohio.
Ashland Railway will receive a $744,000 grant to assist with a $1.3 million rehabilitation of 4 miles of mainline track along the railroad's Willard Line. Part of a three-phase plan to upgrade 12 miles of track along the line, the project calls for installing 7,000 ties, replacing tie plates and installing ballast. Ashland interchanges with Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX.
The commission also approved a $190,000 grant to Independence Rail Works Ltd., a division of the Zemba Cos., to support a rail rehabilitation project on about 3 miles of track located between Derwent and Pleasant City in Guernsey County. The company will install ties and distribute more than 1,500 tons of ballast; the total project investment is about $380,000.
Additionally, ORDC has appointed Megan McClory to serve as acting executive director following the upcoming retirement of Executive Director Matthew Dietrich. McClory will also continue in her current role as the commission's secretary-treasurer, ORDC officials said in a press release.