Natchez Democrat
Feds award $52 million to revive Gloster railroad in Southwest Mississippi
By Stacy Graning
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced the award of $52 million to restore the Gloster Southern Railroad system in southwest Mississippi.
Hyde-Smith, ranking member on the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, worked actively with the Town of Gloster to promote its application for a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program grant through the Federal Railway Administration.
“The revival of the Gloster railroad should be a true economic shot in the arm for this rural region of our state. It should restore an important development tool to support existing and new industries in the area,” Hyde-Smith said. “I commend town leaders, Gloster Southern Railroad, and their partners on submitting a compelling and successful application.”
Formally titled “The Gloster Southern Restoration Project – Reviving Rail Capacity to Mississippi and Louisiana’s Rural Economies,” the project will reestablish rail service, which was discontinued in 2009, on a nearly 35-mile segment of Gloster Southern Railroad. It will reconnect rural businesses in a historically-disadvantaged region of Mississippi and Louisiana to the national freight network.
The project will entail final design, right of way acquisition, and construction activities for various track-related improvements, upgrades to certain grade crossings, and rehabilitation of multiple bridges and culverts.
The Town of Gloster worked with the Southwest Mississippi Planning and Development District and others on the application. A 20 percent nonfederal matching fund requirement will be met by Gloster Southern Railroad’s private partners, CLAW Forestry Services, LLC and Tatum Gravel, LLC.