DENVER — A Denver-based rail company won $120.7 million in federal grant money to help fund projects across the U.S., including one in Colorado.
OmniTrax Inc., one of the largest privately held U.S. rail companies, said Thursday that nearly half the money — $50.5 million — will go toward its work on the Great Western Railway in northern Colorado.
The company said it is working on an 80-mile segment of the line, which offers freight service among northern Colorado communities such as Loveland, Longmont and Greeley and includes interchanges with some of the largest freight rail systems in North America.
The Colorado project is one of four infrastructure grants awarded to OmniTrax through the federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program totaling the $120.7 million.
The other grants will go toward upgrading track and rail yard projects in Alabama, California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and Washington, OmniTrax said.
Communities such as Windsor and Mead, in northern Colorado, will be direct beneficiaries of the Great Western Railway project, which seeks to bolster rail infrastructure to keep up with "booming" growth along the Interstate 25 corridor between Denver and Fort Collins, a company spokesperson said.
> Read the full story at the Denver Business Journal.
