Intermodal shipping: Norlfolk Southern to begin work on Virginia-based intermodal facility

Jeff Berman, Group News Editor -- Logistics Management, 8/20/2008

RICHMOND, Va.—The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) this week gave Class I railroad carrier Norfolk Southern the “go ahead” to begin construction on an intermodal rail yard—entitled the Roanoke Region Intermodal Facility—in Elliston, Va.

The VDRPT said that this facility will provide significant economic benefits for the region, with up to 2,900 jobs and $71 million in annual tax revenue.

The facility is part of the Heartland Corridor project. The objective of the Heartland Corridor, said NS, is to increase the speed of containerized freight moving in double-stack trains between the East Coast and the Midwest.

NS told LM in November that this project will increase capacity by raising vertical clearances in 28 tunnels located along the Heartland Corridor. The company added that the current route the company uses to reach the Midwest from the Virginia port ranges between 1,200 and 1,300 miles, and the Heartland Corridor would enable NS to serve that market with double-stacked trains that would cut that route down to roughly 1,000 miles.

According to the VDRPT, the Heartland Corridor will save 1.5 days of shipping time between the Port of Virginia and Midwest-based markets, remove 1.9 million trucks from Virginia’s highways, save 189 million gallons of fuel, and reduce carbon emissions by 700,000 tons in its first 15 years of operation.

The VDRPT said it has authorized NS to begin facility construction activities by this winter, with the objective of completing the project by 2010.

Although there is a 2010 completion date on the VDRPT’s end, NS does not have a specific timeline in place, according to NS spokesman Robin Chapman.

“The next step is for us to coordinate with the state to work out a budget and a schedule,” said Chapman. “What the VDRPT has set is within range, but we don’t have a set schedule.”

The Elliston terminal will generate a sufficient amount of economic development for its surrounding regions by providing fast and efficient intermodal service to the Virginia ports and to the Midwest, noted Chapman.

In November, NS broke ground on a three-year engineering project, which it said will increase capacity on the Heartland Corridor between the Port of Hampton Roads, Virginia and Chicago. This project will increase capacity by raising vertical clearances in 28 tunnels along the Heartland Corridor and will reduce the current route NS uses to reach the Midwest from Virginia-based ports from 1,200-1,300 miles to just about 1,000 miles, with double-stacked trains, according Chapman.

“The benefits of a cleared corridor are huge, allowing for efficient double stacking from NS [and other rail carriers],” said Anthony B. Hatch, Principal of ABH Consulting in New York, in a November interview. Hatch added that this effort will help take many trucks off the road with all sorts of public benefits such as congestion, road wear and taxes, safety, emissions, and lower consumer prices that were recognized by the states involved—especially Virginia—and other government agencies.

Earlier this year, NS finished work on three tunnels that are part of the Heartland Corridor in between Roanoke and Bluefield, Va. The work done at these tunnels was comprised of lowering the tracks, and work is currently being done on a fourth track to increase its overhead clearance, said Chapman.

There are eight tunnels in the southwest region of Virginia that are currently being worked on, he added.

In March, NS opened the Rickenbacker Terminal, a $68.5 million facility near Columbus, Ohio that is geared towards expanding its Ohio-based intermodal business. This terminal is part of the Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park, and NS said it will provide shippers with improved service and increased capacity—and will also support the Heartland Corridor.