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<a href="http://www.herald-dispatch.com/business/x786767294/CSX-would-allow-double-stack-trains-through-Mid-Atlantic" eudora="autourl">
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/business/x786767294/CSX-would-allow-double-stack-trains-through-Mid-Atlantic</a>
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</font><b>CSX would allow double-stack trains through
Mid-Atlantic</b></h1>November 14, 2009 @ 10:35 PM<br><br>
JEAN TARBETT HARDIMAN<br><br>
The Herald-Dispatch<br><br>
As Prichard and southwestern West Virginia get ready Norfolk Southern
Corp.'s double-stacked trains to move through, the eastern part of the
state is looking forward to a project by CSX. <br><br>
The rail company also is planning to embark on a project to raise tunnels
to accommodate double-stack trains through the Mid-Atlantic region.
<br><br>
The $842 million National Gateway project would affect Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, and is intended to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions from trucks on the highway, as well as
saving $3.5 billion in shipper and logistics costs, significantly
increase freight capacity, reduce transit times between West Coast ports
and major population and triple the market access potential for some
ports on the East Coast. <br><br>
There's a prediction that freight transportation is going to increase by
70 percent over the next 20 years, said CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan.
Moving it to rail rather than trucks will reduce greenhouse emissions, he
said. <br><br>
"What (using double-stacked trains) does is really open access to
more markets and service, so shippers in West Virginia have easier access
to markets they have now," Sullivan said. "It also will ease
the flow of goods into West Virginia as well." <br><br>
The path of the double stacked trains would stretch from Wilmington,
N.C., up the East Coast and northeastward through the Eastern Panhandle
of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. <br><br>
Along the National Gateway, the nearest intermodal distribution facility
to West Virginia will be in Pittsburgh. <br><br>
CSX is committing $395 million to the National Gateway project, and it's
asking for $258 million in federal stimulus grants through the
Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER)
Discretionary Grants Program. State's are being asked for $250 million.
<br><br>
About $60 million will be spent in West Virginia, to clear six tunnels in
the state. But West Virginia is being asked to contribute $5 million to
the project, Sullivan said. <br><br>
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