A $20 million grant for the Columbia Terminal (COLT) Railroad was announced at Columbia’s Railroad Advisory Board meeting Thursday morning. During the meeting, Utilities Director Erin Keys shared that the city had been selected for the grant.
About $16 million of the grant would come from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program, and about $4 million would be matched by the city of Columbia, according to a board member.
“We’ve apparently been awarded a very significant grant,” said John Wilke, chairperson of the board. “We just do not have official notification, but it’s big.”
Wilke added that the grant “probably is the biggest development for the COLT Railroad” since the city decided to acquire it from the Norfolk Southern Corporation in 1987.
“It’s going to give us infrastructure that will be in place when we’re all gone,” Wilke said.
The grant would allow for “deferred maintenance” to be completed on the railroad, he said.
This follows a $3.2 million grant from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration in 2024, which the city matched with an extra $800,000. Keys announced that the city is preparing to receive its first payment.
“We’re in the middle of trying to get our first big reimbursement,” Keys said. “They want us to package those invoices together and do larger reimbursements.”
The board plans to use the Economic Development Administration’s grant to replace the current 90-pound rail with a higher-quality 115-pound rail. The grant will also be used to add ties and track ballast and to replace a culvert and a railroad switch, also known as a turnout.
The board plans to meet again at 8 a.m. Jan. 7 in Conference Room 1C in the Daniel Boone City Building.
