Tired of waiting for painfully slow trains in Richland? What’s being done about it
The Port of Benton has big dreams for the 16-mile stretch of railroad it calls the Southern Connection.
Now, a $9.6 million federal RAISE grant will help make them come true by replacing damaged ties that restrict train speeds and snarl traffic throughout Richland.
The port-owned stretch of railroad extends from Steptoe Street across the Yakima River, along the Highway 240 bypass and into the Horn Rapids area.
Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway and Columbia Rail move about 1.3 million tons of grain, frozen french fries and other goods each year.
The port sees endless possibilities to build it into a Northwest shipping hub.
It is working to establish an inland port complete with warehouses and equipment to move containers among trucks and trains, facilitating shipping between the two sides of Washington.
Derailment worries
There’s a snag: The railroad is in disrepair.
Thousands of ties have failed. Nearly 10 years ago, inspectors X-rayed all 43,437 ties. At the time, 2,443 had failed, 10,000 were near failure and 19,000 would fail within seven years.
Loose ties translate into loose rails.
That raises the risk of derailment, which happened in 2020, when a BNSF train spilled eight cars carrying corn on a curve near the Yakima River.
Because of the track conditions, trains are limited to 10 mph and as low as 5 mph in some stretches.
Slow trains
It can take 20 minutes for a train to pass one of the many intersections in Richland — to the frustration of emergency responders and motorists unlucky enough to be caught at Van Giesen, the cemetery, the airport or any of the other rail crossings.
The RAISE grant — for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity — will replace the ties, allowing the railroad to return to “Class 2” conditions and enabling speeds up to 25 mph.
Diahann Howard, the port’s executive director, said design work will start within 60 days after a contract is awarded. The first phase of construction could begin by late 2025. Work will continue through 2026.
The project includes replacing 12,000 ties between Columbia Center Boulevard and Horn Rapids Road.
A full mile of rail and track in the Wye will be replaced and three miles of track along the elevated curves will be upgraded. Trains as long as 1.5 miles will be able to move safely through the bends.
Howard said the port was “thrilled” to succeed after applying for the RAISE grant several years ago, noting it will support Richland’s economic development ambitions.
The port and city are currently working on projects that, if they come to fruition, could represent a collective investment of $5 billion.
Among them: $3 billion for a nuclear fuel prospect, $1.5 billion for Atlas Agro’s carbon free fertilizer plant and $350 million for Framatome’s nuclear fuel expansion plans.
Built for Hanford
The track was built in 1947 to connect the Hanford nuclear site to the main rail lines in Kennewick. It is unique in that both Union Pacific and BNSF Railway, Class 1 operators, use the tracks.
The U.S. Department of Energy transferred it to the port in 1988. The port in turn turned it over to a contractor, Tri-City Railroad, to provide “short line” service.
The relationship deteriorated and Tri-City Railroad vacated the rail and related buildings in 2022 following a long-running lawsuit and eviction procedures.
While it pursued grants to repair the tracks, the port has worked to upgrade railroad crossings, long a source of complaints from drivers who objected to the bumpy, deteriorating crossings.
Crossings at Jadwin and Duportail were be replaced in 2020 and at Van Giesen and the cemetery in 2022.
This week, the port awarded a contract to replace the White Bluffs crossing near intersection of Highway 240 and Stevens Drive.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 11:43 AM.