TNW Corporation (TNW), a privately held transportation logistics company that operates three short line railroads with multiple transload facilities in Texas, has announced that two of their subsidiary railroads have been awarded grants from the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program.

The Texas and Gonzales Railway (TXGN) and the Texas Rock Crusher Railway (TXR) have been awarded $5.6 million and $3.5 million, respectively; and the companies will each contribute a 30% match towards infrastructure upgrades and safety improvements that will make the railroads even more efficient and contribute to job and economic growth in their communities.

TXGN’s project, the second to be funded by a CRISI grant, will eliminate aging timber bridges which are susceptible to wildfires, providing an improved state-of-good repair to the railroad and allowing the railroad to handle heavier 286,000-pound railcars.

TXR’s Camp Bowie Access Improvement Project will upgrade two miles of right-of-way, including replacing rail, crossties, turnouts, and grade crossings as well as the associated tamping and surfacing work for track rehabilitation projects. The project will also replace an existing 115’ long timber bridge, nearing the end of its useful life and susceptible to wildfires, with a concrete ballast deck bridge. Once completed, the right-of-way and infrastructure will be improved, resulting in support for 286,000-pound cars, and improved resiliency against wildfires for the shippers and industries served by the TXR Railway in the Camp Bowie Industrial Park in Brownwood, Texas.

TNW Chief Executive Officer Paul Treangen says, “These private-public investments significantly speed up the process of improving the rail network for Texas. The awarded grants will enhance the safe movement of trains, improve service cycle times, and help create seamless rail service between our short line railroads and connections with BNSF and UP. Our customers and communities benefit from competitive transportation options and regional economic development, creating jobs and an increased tax base.”

The success of the grant applications is due in part to ongoing support by U.S. Senator John Cornyn; U.S. Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11); U.S. Congressman Michael Cloud (TX-27); Mayor Steve Sucher of Gonzales; Mayor Stephen Haynes of Brownwood; the Texas Department of Transportation; Gonzales County officials; Brown County officials; numerous customers and other civic leaders; and assistance from the FRA.