The Heartland Corridor, times are a changin'

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Looks like all those classic tunnel portals are in danger.

The following story by Gregory Richards appeared on The Virginian-
Pilot website on June 30. 

NORFOLK, Va. - Norfolk Southern Corp. plans to build its new 
southwestern Virginia intermodal terminal in the rural Montgomery 
County village of Elliston, county officials announced this week. 

The $18 million shipping yard will be where truck-size cargo 
containers heading to and from the port of Hampton Roads are 
transferred between trains and trucks. It is part of the $251 
million Heartland Corridor project to allow trains stacked two-high 
with containers to travel a more direct route between the port and 
Chicago. 

The site, just off Interstate 81, consists of roughly 50 acres, 
according to a county news release. 

That is the only location still being looked at for the terminal, 
said Robin Chapman, spokesman for the Norfolk-based railroad. 

The company previously had said only that the terminal would be near 
Roanoke, where the railroad's main east-west and north-south 
corridors cross. 

The railroad is in discussions with property owners to acquire those 
tracts, Chapman said Thursday. He added that he didn't believe any 
of the parcels had already been purchased. 

"It's all still very preliminary," he said. 

Norfolk Southern isn't breaking out how much the land might cost, 
but Chapman said the terminal's $18 million price tag includes both 
construction of the facility and buying the property. Seventy 
percent of the cost is being paid by the state, with the railroad 
paying the remainder. 

The state agreed in May to help pay for the terminal because it will 
improve access to international markets for businesses in western 
Virginia and reduce highway congestion, particularly on the already 
busy I- 81. 

The terminal is scheduled to open by 2010, Chapman said. 

Montgomery County is "extremely pleased" to be selected for the 
project, Steve L. Spradlin, chairman of county's Board of 
Supervisors, said in the release. 

Most of the property being looked at is farmland, with some 
scattered homes, said county spokesman Robert Parker. 

The Heartland Corridor also includes building intermodal terminals 
in Prichard , W.Va., and Columbus, Ohio, as well as raising the 
ceilings of 28 railroad tunnels to permit the passage of the taller 
trains.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20060707/ace70652/attachment.htm