Freight Transport

Norfolk Southern and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are investing $11 million in the railroad's Philadelphia Navy Yard intermodal facility to expand track and parking capacity

The expansion is part of Norfolk Southern's multi-state Crescent Corridor initiative to establish a high-speed intermodal freight rail route between the Gulf Coast and the Northeast

The proposed investment - $6 million from Norfolk Southern and $5 million from Pennsylvania - will create the capacity to handle more than 72,000 containers and trailers a year

Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2010

Norfolk Southern's Crescent Corridor initiative is a multi-state network of infrastructure improvements and other facilities intended to enhance Norfolk Southern's 2,500 mile rail network that supports the supply chain from the Gulf Coast, Birmingham and Memphis to Philadelphia and the New York metropolitan area and enable it to handle more freight traffic faster and more reliably

The railroad is in the process of implementing Corridor projects, including straightening curves, adding passing tracks, improving signal systems, and building new terminals

According to the railroad's CEO Wick Moorman, the Philadelphia Navy Yard intermodal facility's strategic location to Southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware makes its expansion critical to the success of the Crescent Corridor

Altogether, nearly $25 billion in Crescent Corridor projects have been identified If and when the Crescent Corridor initiative is fully implemented, it is anticipated that more than one million truckloads of freight a year will shift from road to rail