July 31, 2026 - TRA Newswire -

The Northeast Texas Rural Rail Transportation District Board (NETEX) has approved an operator and 20-year lease agreement with Dallas-based TNW Corporation to run the rail line. 

Several under-capitalized companies tried and couldn't keep the infrastructure up to a state of good repair over the last decade. TNW indicates that it is ready to invest into the line, which has a strong potential to create additional business across five counties. 

According to the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram, TNW plans to invest $50 million into upgrading the line, $22 million in ties alone. The company's plans include applying for matching funds from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program.

The rail line runs through mostly rural counties northeast of Dallas and interchanges with CPKC and Union Pacific Railroad. it covers Collin, Hunt, Hopkins, Franklin and Titus counties in Northeast Texas. 

The short line right-of-way is owned by the Texas Department of Transportation and administered by the NETEX board.

When legislation was passed that created the rural rail district, NETEX did not have any taxing authority to upgrade its bridges and infrastructure. The only source of income is a minimum per car fee paid by the operator to the rural rail district, which doesn't allow for badly needed track work.

The entire line has been classified as Excepted Track by the Federal Railroad Administration. Excepted Track means the rail bed and infrastructure is in poor condition and only allows freight trains to operate up to 10 miles per hour. Other restrictions apply to trains carrying hazardous material. 

In 2024, at a Texas Transportation Commission meeting, then State Representative Jill Dutton spoke passionately and passed out rail nails to each commissioner. The nails, not rail spikes that you commonly see on tracks to hold ties in place, date back to the 1940's. Dutton said those nails and ties are still in place on the NETEX line and in dire need of replacement. 

Dutton said the meager fees collected for each rail car goes to "not rehabilitate it, not improve it but just to maintain it. They are literally just hanging on by their fingernails."  The line presently carries raw materials, lumber, steel, grain and some hazardous materials. 

According to the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram, at a May meeting of the NETEX board, it was mentioned that TNW plans to give $75,000 to NETEX to put towards internal bills. 

Photo credit: Texas Rail Advocates - interchange between NETX and CPKC at Sulphur Springs