OmniTRAX to activate rail line near Island Grove

GREELEY — Denver-based OmniTRAX Inc., is planning to resume using an inactive portion of its Great Western Railway freight line that runs south of Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley.

OmniTrax, an affiliate of Denver-based The Broes Co., is spending $14 million to upgrade 10 miles of its track that has been idle for 10 years that connects to a Union Pacific track that runs north and south in Greeley.

The track that is being upgraded starts in the northern border of downtown Greeley and heads west toward the Great Western Industrial Park in Windsor and on to Fort Collins. It is expected to be operational by the end of this year.

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Trains will be running by Island Grove, a multiuse events complex owned by the city of Greeley and Weld County that is home to the Greeley Stampede.

The Great Western Railway currently operates track and interchanges with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific railways that connect to Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, Kelim and Milliken.

Jenni Stanford, OmniTRAX’s director of industrial development for the Rocky Mountains, said “with the incredible economic growth in Weld County, the Great Western Railway saw a need for investment in the infrastructure of the region.”

The upgraded track will be able to handle cars that weigh up to 286,000 pounds. The part that is being upgraded is in an interchange with the Union Pacific. An interchange is where two different railroad companies hand cars off to one another. OmniTrax has already signed an agreement with Union Pacific to reactivate the interchange.

OmniTRAX still must obtain a permit from the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Mike Booth with the Federal Railroad Administration said OmniTRAX must follow federal regulations pertaining to maintenance and safety, but is not required to receive permission from the government because it already owns the track.

Stanford said train schedules will be determined by the needs of customers and on safety constraints.

“In order to ensure the very best safety practices, we cannot predict the precise activity on any of our lines,” Stanford said. ”It’s important to note that for every rail car used to ship cargo, four tractor-trailers are removed from the highway making rail a more environment-friendly mode of transportation.”