A rail replacement crew of 35 employees will replace rail at an estimated rate of 3,350 feet a day. To allow the BNSF crew time to replace the rail, sections of track will be closed five hours a day during rail replacement until the work is complete.
Also being replaced is more than 13 track miles of rail on the Red Rock subdivision between Arkansas City, KS, and Gainesville, TX. The project is expected to end in early November with a total cost of $3 million.
A crew of 30 employees will utilize equipment such as cranes, welders and ballast tampers to replace rail at an estimated rate of one half mile a day. Sections of track will be closed six hours a day during rail replacement until the work is complete. Materials replaced on the lines will be reused or recycled in keeping with BNSF's environmental stewardship policies.
As part of a $2.85 billion capital commitment, BNSF currently expects to spend more than $1.8 billion to keep the railway's infrastructure strong by refreshing track, signal systems, structures, freight cars, and upgrading technologies. Unlike other modes of transportation, BNSF must build and maintain its own tracks, signals and other infrastructure.
