Palestine and Rusk Track Rebuild Finishes Its First Phase
Published: November 4, 2026
By: Adam Burns
The Texas & Eastern Railroad has finished the first phase of a roughly $30 million track project in East Texas and has started the second. Phase I was paid for mainly by a $13.4 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program, for fiscal years 2023 and 2024. The work is on the line between Palestine and Rusk. The railroad connects there with Union Pacific.
Representatives from the FRA, Texas State Railroad Authority and the community during a ribbon cutting celebrating the completion of Phase I of the track rebuilding, in Palestine, Texas. Texas & Eastern photo.
Eighteen miles, and the crossings
On that corridor the railroad replaced 18 miles of 80-pound rail, installed 14,150 ties, renewed switches and switch ties, and upgraded 17 grade crossings. The same phase included ballast and track surfacing. The railroad said the work should make the line safer and more reliable, give it a better chance of serving regional freight customers, and support a shift of some of that freight from truck to rail.
A photograph distributed with the account shows a gathering in Palestine. The caption says representatives of the FRA, the Texas State Railroad Authority, and the community were there to mark the end of Phase I and the award of Phase II.
What Phase II adds at the depot
Phase II received $8.54 million in CRISI funding for fiscal years 2025 and 2026. It will add about 9,500 feet of track at the Palestine Depot, a transload siding for an aggregate customer that has already committed to the site, and a new storage spur. The account does not give a completion date for that phase. Texas & Eastern is a Jaguar Transport railroad.
Related reading on American-Rails.com
Sources
- Progressive Railroading, November 2, 2026, citing a Texas & Eastern Railroad press release. Phase I of a roughly $30 million project is complete, and Phase II is underway. Phase I was primarily funded by a $13.4 million fiscal-year 2023-2024 CRISI grant. Between Palestine and Rusk: replacement of 18 miles of 80-pound rail, 14,150 ties, 17 grade crossings, switches and switch ties, ballast, and surfacing. Phase II received $8.54 million in fiscal-year 2025-2026 CRISI funding: about 9,500 feet of track at the Palestine Depot, a dedicated transload siding for a committed aggregate customer, and a new storage spur. The railroad is a Jaguar Transport property and connects with Union Pacific in Palestine. The photo caption credits the railroad and describes a Palestine gathering with the FRA, the Texas State Railroad Authority, and the community.
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