Industrial Rail Access Program

Industrial Rail Access Program (IRAP)

LATEST ON IRAP:
Grants Totaling $2.7 Million

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), in concert with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, awarded grants ranging from $30,000 to $500,000 to nine different freight-rail-related projects late in the fall of 2019. Recipients committed to matching those grants with significant sums of their own money, and the total “match” will come to $3.3 million. For a closer look at this latest round of Industrial Rail Access Program grants, we are publishing here a copy of the presentation made by Astrid Glynn, MassDOT’s Rail & Transit Administrator, during the agency’s Nov. 18th board of directors meeting.

Slide 1

Slide 2

Slide 8

Slide 1

1/8

SUCCESS STORIES

New Siding Eliminates Bottlenecks

Sherwood Lumber of Palmer, a national leader and innovator in the lumber and building materials industries, is served by the New England Central Railroad. It received a $500,000 IRAP grant in 2013 and matched it with $1,175,000. The company then built a new siding, with 3,000 feet of track. This has set the stage for higher volumes of rail service to Sherwood’s busy freight docks and significantly reduced bottlenecks in the Palmer Industrial Park. The project was completed in the Fall of 2016.