Years of Hard Work Are Beginning to Pay Off for Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad

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The following is an advisory by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). The Powder River Basin in Wyoming has been producing enormous amounts of coal for nearly a decade. Over that period, it became clear that the existing rail infrastructure would not be able to handle the future needs of the area, so Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) began to develop the $1.4 billion Powder River Basin (PRB) Expansion Plan.

Under Phase I of the PRB Plan, DM&E would construct approximately 280 miles of new rail line and rebuild some 600+ miles of existing line to expand their service to the area and provide for the needs of their customers. This work will not only affect the Wyoming area, where the Powder River Basin is located, but will also involve a large amount of work in Minnesota and South Dakota along DM&E's existing rail system.

In addition to new rail lines and existing line modifications and upgrades, DM&E will be constructing new rail yards for locomotive storage and repair plus coal storage and loading in Wyoming. In South Dakota, DM&E will construct a new rail operations center including a new central yard, a new locomotive repair facility, and repair shops. Minnesota will be mainly receiving upgrades of close to 600 miles of existing rail line.

Having secured Federal approvals of Phase I of the PRB Plan, DM&E is moving forward with the designs of the overall project. Once they have selected a Design/Build firm, they will be able to commence engineering and are hoping to get the project under construction in early 2003.

The Powder River Basin coal reserves are immense and future of DM&E is tied directly with them. The PRB Expansion Plan will allow DM&E to move that coal to the central markets where it is in high demand, especially in the power industry where coal is used to fuel numerous electrical generation plants across the United States. This expansion should place DM&E completely in tune, if not slightly ahead, of the needs of the Powder River Basin for years to come, ensuring DM&E will remain a force in the industry for decades.