U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) said this week that Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge, is receiving a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) grant to improve rail safety on a line that runs through the city.
Statistics indicate that in the past 16 years, the Baton Rouge Corridor has seen nearly a dozen accidents.
Every month, the KCS Railway carries approximately 51,000 tons of ethanol and crude oil through this corridor.
The grant funding will go toward completing work on 15 at-grade crossings in a 6-mile portion of the Kansas City Southern (KCS) Railway line that cuts through the city.
“A major part of Louisiana’s economy depends on the transportation infrastructure that supports our job-creating energy sector, and yet train-car collisions at Louisiana railroad crossings are becoming an all-too-familiar occurrence,” Vitter said. “Preventing future catastrophes certainly must be a top priority, and this funding will go a long way toward improving the safety surrounding railway crossings along an important section of the Baton Rouge Corridor.”
