BNSF celebrates new Kansas track on 'super highway' expected to reduce delivery times

EMPORIA (KSNT) - A major railroad company is celebrating the completion of a large-scale project in Kansas which is expected to increase transportation efficiency.

BNSF announced on Wednesday, Nov. 20 that it has wrapped up work on a new section of double-track by its Emporia subdivision. This is on BNSF's Southern Transcon "super highway" route which stretches 2,200 miles from southern California all the way up to Chicago, Illinois.

Workers with the railroad company placed the final piece of double-track, allowing engines to move in both directions at the same time, between the towns of Rose Hill and Mulvane on Nov. 18. This last 3.5-mile stretch of track is part of 51 miles of the new double track for the Emporia subdivision.

“We’ve been working on the Emporia Sub project since 2019,” said Craig Rasmussen, assistant vice president of engineering services and structures. “This final segment will be blended into the doubletrack at Mulvane, making the entire subdivision at least two main lines. Keeping trains flowing smoothly was the goal, so it makes sense that the final cutover spot, known today as East Junction, will just become a spot where trains keep rolling along double track with no reason to stop.” 

BNSF expects this new track to help with its deliveries ahead of the holiday season in late 2024. Travel time for trains is expected to be cut down by around 90 minutes with the completion of this project.

“A big thanks to our engineering teams for putting this key capacity in service for the country’s domestic peak shipping season ahead of the holidays,” said Jon Gabriel, group vice president of consumer products. “Our Southern Transcon is now almost completely double-, triple- or quadruple-tracked. We can now run multiple priority intermodal trains in and out of Southern California daily between key markets, with no need to stop a train every 10 miles to meet another throughout the trip.”  

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