Oklahoma State Program Buys Tracks to Keep Trains Running

APULPA, Okla. (AP) — When Burlington Northern Santa Fe Co. decided to abandon two lines through rural Oklahoma, the state stepped in and paid $6.55 million to save the tracks from the scrap yard.

That purchase Feb. 26 by the Department of Transportation boosted the inventory of state-owned tracks to 824 miles, 22% of the railroad total on Sooner soil.

Those latest acquisitions — one line between Sapulpa and Midwest City, one from Stillwater to Pawnee — have been leased to a shortline carrier trying to drum up more commodities for shipping.

The goal is to prevent viable tracks from being ripped up and sold for scrap once the major railroads no longer want them. Rural businesses benefit from better rates and increased volume obtainable through rail rather than trucking, sources in the rail industry claim.