Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, announced Tuesday that the Port of Sacramento has been awarded a grant of more than $960,000 from the Federal Railroad Administration for construction of a rail loop track that will increase freight capacity and handling efficiency.

“The Port of Sacramento is a lynchpin of Northern California’s economy,” Thompson said in a news release. “With this grant, the port will be able to handle more business, more efficiently.

“I will keep working to make sure our port receives the funds it needs because these are the types of infrastructure investments that will get our economy moving by creating jobs and increasing competition.”

Said Mike McGowan, chairman of the Sacramento-Yolo Port Commission and a Yolo County supervisor, “We’re excited to now be moving forward with this important rail project, which is another important step in further strengthening our role as a competitive Northern California goods-movement hub.”

The rail loop project will enable train switching and storage operations to take place solely on port property in West Sacramento. It also will significantly reduce surface-street blockages by freight traffic and provide for a more secure port perimeter.

The Port of Sacramento is one of 12 recipients that will share $16.9 million in funding to relocate, replace and improve railroad track segments under the Federal Railroad Administration’s Rail Line Relocation and Improvement grant program. The FRA received more than $67 million in state and local government requests.

“The overwhelming number of applications we received for this program shows that state and local officials recognize the economic boost that comes with improving transportation infrastructure,” Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said in a news release.

In January, the port opened a new 5,000-foot rail track extension that links the port main terminal with the Cemex cement and aggregate facility near the port, and expects to launch a new federal stimulus-funded marine highway container-barge service with the Ports of Oakland and Stockton later this year.

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