Meridian Southern Railway LLC will spend $250,000 to refurbish a 55-mile stretch of railroad it owns in Clarke and Wayne counties.

East Mississippi economic development officials have said 2,000 jobs held by Clarke and Wayne county residents depend on the repair and upgrade of the stretch of railroad track.

Officials with the East Mississippi Business Development Corp., as well as economic development districts and boards of supervisors in Clarke and Wayne counties, are working to obtain federal funding to match what the railroad is putting up.

Arthur Miller, the managing director of Alabama-based Rail Transportation Management Specialists, said Meridian Southern's commitment will help reach the goal. "We believe this will demonstrate to the federal agencies, who will provide the bulk of the funding, just how much the local and state commitment truly is to this project," Miller said.

The state may put up $250,000 state grant if funding is available from the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

The track links Waynesboro and Meridian, where it then connects with Kansas City Southern Railroad and other carriers.

Some of the track is believed to be nearly a century old and few repairs have been made over the past three decades.

Couple that with last spring's round of flash floods in East Mississippi, Miller said, and some people fear the line could become impassable.

The biggest plant that could suffer from the condition of the railroad is Waynesboro's Marshall-Durbin grain storage and blending plant, a chicken hatchery business dependent on rail. The plant is responsible for about 1,200 jobs in Mississippi and Alabama.

Eric Lee, chief executive officer of Meridian Southern Railway, said he was pleased with the support of the project. "Our customers have been a big part of the effort to make this program a success," Lee said. "We hope our commitment to the project will be viewed as a positive step towards the future."