HENDERSON, Texas — A $15 million project to rebuild a former Union Pacific branch line has been announced by the line’s owner, the Rusk County Rural Rail District, and the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority.
The Henderson-Overton Branch, an approximately 15-mile line connecting its two namesake communities, has been owned by the district since it its purchase in 2010 from UP, which wanted to abandon the line. Operation is contracted to Blacklands Railroad, which also operates an 8-mile short line between Mount Pleasant and Winfield, Texas.
The planned work will be funded in part by an $8.48 million Federal Railroad Administration CRISI (Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements) grant. Contributions from private partners will provide the required matching funds. The project will include increasing track capacity, upgrading the interchange with Union Pacific at Overton, and transloading enhancements in Henderson and Overton. The mobility authority awarded $240,000 for the work in 2020.
“Rusk County is seizing its future by transforming an aging rail line into a vibrant economic artery,” John Cloutier, the rail district president, said in a Kilgore News Herald report. “… Our rail traffic has increased tenfold, and we anticipate even greater growth once the project is completed.”
The branch line is in Tyler County in eastern Texas; Overton is about 20 miles east-southeast of Tyler, with Henderson further to the southeast and about 45 miles due west of the Louisiana state line.
