HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Last week we told you of numerous railroad grade crossings that were to be closed in Reno County this week, and next as BNSF Railway conducted a major track renovation project.

But Tuesday morning BNSF notified the county that the project has been postponed with no start up date given. The proposed project comes on the heels of a push by by the cities of Hutchinson, Garden City, and Dodge City along with the states of Kansas Colorado and New Mexico to obtain several TIGER transportation grants for renovation of the BNSF rail line served by Amtraks SW Chief..

BNSF is still planning the rail replacement project totaling about 30 miles, from Hutchinson to near Abbyville. According to Andy Williams Spokesperson for the railroad, work crews will be replacing the jointed rail with continuous ribbon rail which provides a much smoother ride for Amtrak.  

Plans are to do about 18 miles of track this summer, and another 20 or so miles later. Now the project is on hold with no reason given by BNSF for the delay.

Hutchinson was part of an effort to secure several of the federal grants to rehab the rail line in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico after Amtrak threatened to take the Chief off of the route and move it the BNSF  “Transcon” route through Oklahoma and Texas, due to deteriorating track conditions.