BNSF budgets $3.4 billion for capital expenditures in 2020

(Source: Progressive Railroading 02/04/2020)

BNSF Railway Co. will spend $3.4 billion on capital expenditures this year, down from the $3.57 billion the Class I budgeted in 2019.

This year’s plan emphasizes maintaining network infrastructure as well as expansion projects designed to meet customer demand, BNSF officials said last week in a customer notification.

The plan’s largest component, or about $2.55 billion, will be spent on replacing and upgrading rail, ties and ballast and maintaining rolling stock, they said.

Maintenance projects will include 11,000 miles of track surfacing and/or undercutting work, as well as replacement of 489 miles of rail and nearly 2.7 million ties.

Additionally, about $581 million has been allocated for expansion and efficiency projects, most of which will focus on BNSF’s southern and northern Transcon routes, connecting Southern California with Chicago and the Pacific Northwest to the upper Midwest, respectively.