NEWS
DEVELOPMENTCOMMISSION
(614) 644-0306
telephone or fax (614) 728-4520
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Stu Nicholson
614-644-0513
Re-Activated Rail Line Gets First New
Grade Crossing Upgrade
(
The “Piney Fork” line was
recently re-activated. Portions of the line have not seen trains for twenty
years. Posters announcing the re-activation have been distributed in
communities and at strategic locations along the line. Service could begin on the line within the
next month.
The Ohio Central Railroad
will be running an estimated four trains of municipal solid waste per day to
the Apex landfill along the rail line. Trains will operate at maximum speeds of
10 miles per hour. Since this is a
state-owned rail line, ORDC receives $10 per carload for every loaded car
traveling over the Piney Fork Line to the landfill. The landfill is currently
the only customer on the rail line.
Other grade crossings
affected by the re-activation of the rail line, but not scheduled for crossing
upgrades are:
•
Township Road 164 (
•
Township Road 159 (
•
Township Road 165 (
• Township Road 201
“Even
though the five grade crossings along the line are in largely rural areas and
don’t see a heavy volume of motor vehicle traffic, we need to alert drivers to
the possibility that trains are once again operating along this line”, says
ORDC spokesperson Stu Nicholson. “As
with all railroad crossings, drivers must always assume there is a train
approaching and use caution as they cross those rails. But this is especially important in a
situation like this where the trains were gone for a number of years and are
beginning to return.”
Typically,
construction of new lights and gates takes from 10 months to a year, depending
on the engineering requirements and construction needs.
(The