The freight railroad that passes through Ada will begin a multi-million dollar update in its Lima rail yard.

The Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad (CFE) will receive $462,000 to match $4,358,547 of its own funding and a $4,530,546 grant to assist with upgrades in the Lima Yard and on approximately 11 miles of track from Lima to north-central Indiana.

The announcement was made at the Nov. 18 meeting of the Ohio Rail Development Commission.

CFE was among four grants the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) approved.

The grants are the state’s share of the matching funds for four Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program (CRISI) Grant awards.

Rails through Ada
The CFE is a regional short line railroad that operates through Ada between Chicago, Illinois, and Crestline. It provides rail freight access to the North American rail and port network and links Ohio and Indiana businesses to their suppliers and consumers.

Major commodities transported include agricultural products, chemicals and plastics, metals, minerals, and stone.

The CFE’s Lima yard is a strategic railcar switching hub that serves businesses both in Lima and across western Ohio, and provides a crucial link to Chicago to sister Genesee & Wyoming railroads.

The project submitted for CRISI, the Linking Lima Project, is a $9,351,093 project, consisting of the installation of 10.85 miles of continuous welded rail, 2,600 ties, 4,000 tons of ballast and the installation of 8 switches in Lima Yard.

A number of miles of the rail replacement will be occurring in Indiana – ORDC proactively reached out to the Indiana Department of Transportation and enlisted their assistance, should the need arise.

Benefits to Ohio are significant and include improved safety for rail shipments on the line and in Lima Yard due to the Yard being returned to a state of good repair, the removal of speed restrictions along the line allowing trains to move faster and more efficiently, and improved service to freight customers.

The ORDC grant will also leverage $8,889,093 of federal and private grant funding to accomplish the project.