Grenada Railroad Earns 286K GWR Certification

Grenada Railroad received Honorable Mention in Railway Age’s 2021 Short Line and Regional Railroads of the Year program. (Photograph Courtesy of Grenada Railroad)

RailUSA on Nov. 14 reported that subsidiary Grenada Railroad received 286,000-pound gross weight on rail (GWR) certification, following three years of multi-million-dollar construction and rehabilitation projects.

Targeted for abandonment by its previous owners in 2011, Grenada Railroad now operates 228 miles of track, running north/south along the I-55 corridor between Canton, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn. (See map, left.) It offers access to six Class I’s: CN, Union Pacific, BNSF, Norfolk Southern, Kansas City Southern and CSX.

Since RailUSA acquired the short line in 2018, it said “steady progress has been made to improve the condition of the line with the replacement of nearly 150,000 crossties and 32 bridge rebuilds,” which were funded through private investments as well as local, state and federal grants. For its efforts, Grenada Railroad received Honorable Mention in Railway Age’s 2021 Short Line and Regional Railroads of the Year program.

All embargoes and operating restrictions have been lifted as of Nov. 7, 2022, according to RailUSA, which also owns and operates the 430-mile Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad.