The Port of Virginia said today that eastern railroad CSX Corp. has launched daily rail service between the port and Pittsburgh via CSX's newly opened Pittsburgh intermodal terminal.
The service will offer rail access to shippers and consignees in western Pennsylvania and northwest Ohio, port officials said.
Double-stack trains traveling between the Norfolk harbor and Pittsburgh will move along CSX's National Gateway route to the rail carrier's $60 million facility, which opened Sept. 7.
The Pittsburgh terminal is the last piece of CSX's "National Gateway" initiative, an $850 million project focused on creating a network of double-stack rail and intermodal terminals that connects East Coast markets to consumers, manufacturers, and businesses in the Midwest. Jacksonville, Fla.-based CSS said that more than 95 percent of its intermodal network now has sufficient tunnel clearance to handle trains with double-stacked containers aboard, thus maximizing the service's potential efficiency because each car can handle more cargo.
"This will help to expand an important and growing market for The Port of Virginia," said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, in a statement announcing the service.
In its 2017 fiscal year, which ended June 30, the port moved 569,000 containers by rail, more than an 11-percent increase in volume when compared with its 2016 fiscal year.
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