$3 billion Track-Improvement Project Announced by BNSF

Railroad tracks run by the BNSF railway in Oklahoma could be among the 13,000 miles of track the company plans to improve in a $3.3 billion project in 2018. The company has a total of 32,500 miles of tracks in Oklahoma and 27 other states as well as three provinces in Canada.

The Fort Worth-based company says it will match the 2017 spending on maintenance as well as upgrades to the network that runs across Oklahoma and numerous other states. BNSF announced it plans to spend $2.4 billion to maintain and repair its network as well as its locomotives and that includes rehabilitating 13,000 miles of track. The company will spend another $500 million to expand capacity.

BNSF also said its installation of the automatic braking system required by the federal government is nearly complete. With completion close at hand, the company expects to spend only about $100 million on the project this year.

 

BNSF is owned by Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. BNSF operates 32,500 miles of track in 28 western states and three Canadian provinces.