CSX plans link between East Coast ports, Midwest
CSX Corp. has announced plans for a rail corridor that would link Mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest, a plan that shares similarities to Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor.
CSX said the $700 million public-private infrastructure initiative, which it has dubbed the National Gateway, would “provide greater capacity for product shipments in and out of the Midwest, reduce truck traffic on already crowded highways, and create thousands of jobs.”
CSX said it has committed $300 million to the National Gateway, and will work with several states and the federal government to secure additional funding.
CSX said it would build or expand several high-capacity, job-producing intermodal terminals where product shipments are exchanged between trucks and trains.
At the same time, it said it would work together with state and federal government agencies to create double-stack clearances beneath public overpasses along the railroad.
“More and more, the nation is becoming aware of the tremendous safety, economic and environmental benefits that railroads create. Our trains can move a ton of freight 423 miles on a single gallon of fuel, and one train can carry the load of more than 280 trucks,” said Michael J. Ward, chairman, president and chief executive officer of CSX. “The National Gateway leverages those benefits to the fullest by combining the resources and expertise of the public and private sectors.”
The National Gateway was announced at the offices of Pacer International, a CSX customer, in Dublin, Ohio, with Gov. Ted Strickland.
CSX said Strickland has pledged to work with state and federal officials to support the initiative, which calls for two new intermodal terminals in Wood County and Columbus at a cost of $130 million to CSX. The terminals will ultimately spur the development of related businesses and thousands of jobs to support them.
“In Ohio, this initiative helps solidify our state’s position as a transportation gateway for the country,” Strickland said. “This is a major competitive advantage that can greatly benefit the citizens of Ohio, and the state of Ohio is committed to doing its part to help build this sort of needed infrastructure. In doing so, we’ll also be setting an example for other states around the nation.”
The National Gateway will enhance three existing rail corridors that run through Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
Those corridors include:
' The Interstate 70/I-76 Corridor between Washington and northwest Ohio via Pittsburgh.
' The I-95 Corridor between North Carolina and Baltimore via Washington.
' The Carolina Corridor between Wilmington and Charlotte, N.C.
CSX’s project comes in the wake of Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor, a three-year railway improvement project scheduled to be completed in 2010 that is expected to significantly increase the speed of containerized freight moving in double-stack trains between the East Coast and the Midwest.
The Heartland Corridor goes across Virginia, through southern West Virginia and north through Columbus, and has also been built through a public-private partnerships.
In March Norfolk Southern opened the Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal near Columbus, Ohio, a $68.5 million facility that will allow Norfolk Southern to significantly expand its intermodal business in central Ohio. ' Chris Dupin
