The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT), in cooperation with the Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR), a $127,536 Diesel Reduction Fuel Act (DERA) grant. CVR contributed $191,305 in matching funds, and the grant will be used to purchase auxiliary power units on the CVR’s seven locomotives.
The auxiliary power units will reduce idling hours. This has multiple benefits including reducing diesel fuel costs, improving railroad operating efficiencies, enhancing ambient air quality in communities along the rail line, and reducing pollutants and fine particulate matters along the rail freight transportation corridor.
Installation is scheduled to begin in October and will take approximately 90 days. KDOT and the CVR will work together.
“The Cimarron Valley Railroad appreciates the opportunity to build on our long-term partnership with KDOT through this innovative and groundbreaking grant award by EPA under the DERA program,” Bruce Carswell, CVR senior vice president, said. “We are excited to be able to reduce the emissions footprint of CVR’s locomotives, which will benefit our neighboring communities in southwest Kansas.”
CVR has more than 186 track miles extending into Oklahoma and Colorado but is located primarily in southwest Kansas. The railroad interchanges with the BNSF Railway in Dodge City.