CSX executives stress intermodal infrastructure development
CSX Intermodal President Jim Hertwig said there is a need for more cooperation between public and private sectors to quickly address emerging trends in global trade and the critical need for expanded transportation and distribution infrastructure.
“As our nation faces combined pressures from an increasingly globalized economy and deteriorating transportation infrastructure, it is critical that we work together to bolster this pillar of our national economy (intermodal transportation),' Hertwig said in a speech at the National Industrial Transportation League-Intermodal Association of North America conference in Atlanta last week.
In 2009, CSX will begin constructing an intermodal facility at North Baltimore in northwestern Ohio, and undertake toll streamline operations in Chicago. Last year, the company opened an intermodal terminal at Chambersburg, Pa., and continues work to expand facilities in major markets such as Charlotte, N.C.
The new intermodal facility in Northwest Ohio is a key element of the National Gateway, a public-private partnership seeking to create a more efficient rail route between Mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest through use of double-stack trains. By hauling more freight on fewer trains, the National Gateway would reduce congestion on the nation’s crowded highways and improve rail fluidity, CSX said.
“Customers, policymakers and the public are realizing the environmental and economic benefits of freight rail,” said Lisa Mancini, vice president, strategic infrastructure initiatives for CSX Transportation.