Norfolk Southern officially dedicates Pennsylvania-based Franklin County Intermodal Facility

Class I railroad carrier Norfolk Southern this week formally dedicated its Pennsylvania-based Franklin County Intermodal Facility.

This $97 million facility is part of the railroad’s Crescent Corridor project, which aims to establish an efficient, high-capacity intermodal freight rail route between the Gulf Coast and the North East.

The Franklin County Intermodal Facility is located on 200 acres south of Greencastle and is less than a mile from Interstate 81 and NS said it connects Central Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and Northern Virginia to domestic and global markets along with the creation of 126 new jobs. NS said that this is the result of a public-private partnership comprised of $52 million from NS and a $45 million investment.

“This terminal represents a milestone for Norfolk Southern and Franklin County,” NS CEO Wick Moorman said in a statement. “It is creating jobs here in Central Pennsylvania, positioning Norfolk Southern as the green transportation choice, and serving the region’s freight transportation needs.”

NS said that this terminal has 670 paved trailer/container parking spots and will serve as a major gateway for freight in the Mid-Atlantic region and that in conjunction with other company intermodal terminals in Pennsylvania will aid in diverting hundreds of thousands of long-haul trucks off Pennsylvania roads and onto trains.

Other Norfolk Southern Crescent Corridor terminals that have opened in the last year are in Birmingham, Ala. and Memphis, Tenn., with a fourth one scheduled to open in Charlotte by the end of 2013 along with plans to expand capacity at two intermodal terminals in Harrisburg.

Launched in June 2007, the Crescent Corridor is a public-private partnership (PPP) to build a rail corridor spanning from Louisiana to New Jersey. NS officials said this endeavor will expand and improve its rail network from the northeast to the southeast, expedite the delivery of cargo shipments, and reduce highway congestion by diverting truck traffic. When it is completed, NS said it will stretch across 2,500 miles from New Orleans to Newark, N.J. and run through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana.

NS has publicly stated in the past that it is running about 3 million loads in its intermodal network and can foresee through the reasonable near-term that would be about a 60 million unit network.

“These numbers are staggering in terms of the slightest uptick in rail market share from truckload volume, a company executive said at an industry conference. “And the value of continuing to develop terminal capacity through public-private partnerships is likely to increase. There are probably not going to be many new highways built, and the railroads would be in a good position to work with state and federal governments on those partnerships.”