BNSF plans $115M capital program in Montana

BNSF Railway plans to invest about $115 million this year on maintenance and rail capacity expansion projects in Montana.

The investment is part of BNSF's record 2013 national capital commitment of $4.3 billion.

The railway company is planning for more than 2,300 miles of track surfacing and undercutting work, the replacement of nearly 100 miles of rail and about 310,000 ties, as well as signal upgrades for federally mandated positive train control.

BNSF will expand capacity in Montana by constructing three new staging tracks about three miles east of Glasgow. Machine vision technology will be added at Miles City to help detect damaged equipment as a safety precaution.

About $1 billion will be spent nationally on locomotive, freight car and other equipment acquisitions, many of which will serve Montana.

"BNSF's capital investments in Montana will help ensure our network is prepared for growing demand for freight rail," said Matthew Rose, BNSF chief executive officer. "We are focused on investing to meet our customers' expectations and on expanding capacity where growth is occurring. Given the importance of a low cost supply chain to the U.S. economy, our privately funded rail infrastructure is well positioned to help all Montana industries compete in global markets."