Belpre Industrial Parkersburg Railroad Receives $6.9 million Grant Award
The Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant will be used toward the $8.6 million BIP Railroad Regional Connectivity Improvements Project
COLUMBUS, OHIO – October 25, 2024 — Cathcart Rail (“Cathcart”) is honored to announce that it has been awarded a $6.9 million CRISI grant for the $8.6 million BIP Railroad Regional Connectivity Improvements Project (“Project”). The Project is comprised of making significant needed repairs to two bridges on Class III rail carrier Belpre Industrial Parkersburg (“BIP”) Railroad’s mainline in southeast Ohio and Parkersburg, West Virginia. The Project includes repairing and replacing crossties on the 118-year-old historic B&O Sixth Street Railroad Bridge crossing the Ohio River, as well as a large bridge over a stream. The Project will ensure the short line can continue to serve customers and support family-wage jobs within the emerging plastics and petrochemicals corridor of the Ohio River Valley.
The BIP Railroad is a 40-mile short line operating between Parkersburg, West Virginia and Waterford, Ohio, in the southeastern part of Ohio. BIP interchanges with CSX Transportation in Parkersburg. In 2020, Cathcart began leasing the line from CSX, commenced operations, and immediately began investing in the line to make improvements following recent years of insufficient capital investment. At the time, the line was rated FRA Class 1 status with a track speed of 10 MPH. Cathcart’s capital investment has led to an upgrade to Class 2 track and track speed to 25 MPH, excluding the Project bridges. Since its assumption of the line, Cathcart has quadrupled traffic and now moves over 15,000 railcars per year.
Additionally, several multi-hundred acre parcels are available for industrial development, with a myriad of state and local economic incentives attached. “The BIP would be the perfect location for aggregates, chemicals, fertilizers, renewable fuels, plastics, petroleum products, or material staging for energy, pipelines, or transportation. The sites offer high-volume electricity and natural gas access, ample space for large-scale development, and local access to Interstate 77,” said Casey Cathcart, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cathcart Rail. He added, “You can build a large facility with Ohio River access, we can handle it, we have the land, utilities, and rail infrastructure to support it.”
About Cathcart Rail
Cathcart is a leading freight rail services and transportation company based in Columbus, Ohio. The company currently operates the largest railcar services network, encompassing 18 repair facilities and over 75 field services locations, as well as a rail services division that operates three shortline railroads and a dozen contract switching and transloading sites, among other services such as railcar storage, track maintenance, and railcar parts. Cathcart was founded in February 2016 by the father and son team of Thomas Cathcart and Casey Cathcart with 20 employees, and now employs nearly 1,000 people across 110+ locations in 33 states.
Contact Information:
Cathcart Rail, LLC
Matt Mclaughlin
Vice President, Business Development – Rail
+1 (352) 634-0108