Video: Heartland Corridor Project Complete

[Lunican]

http://www.youtube.com/v/9Nsg5JNGqck?version=3

The Heartland Corridor is a rail freight route connecting the busy Virginia ports and the Midwest. In one of the biggest railroad engineering projects in the past century -- a feat that took three years to complete and is scheduled to open Sept. 9 -- Norfolk Southern modified 28 tunnels to accommodate double-stack containers. The new gateway is 250 miles shorter and saves a day or more of transit time, making it the shortest, fastest double-stack route between the East Coast and the Midwest. It benefits freight customers and doubles Norfolk Southern's capacity to handle the growth in international intermodal shipments. It also provides communities along the corridor with greater access to world markets, reducing highway congestion, fuel use, and emissions, and improving public safety.

The Heartland Corridor is a public-private partnership among Norfolk Southern and several federal and state entities. Together, they are delivering the economic and environmental benefits of enhanced rail infrastructure -- and creating a competitive advantage for America.

[spuwho]

Norfolk clearly expects Panamax traffic to bypass JaxPort and go north to save money on overland rail.

If this is the case, then as a shipper why would I ship through JaxPort to get to Chicago via CSX?

To save money I would go through Norfolk on NS, to save time I could go through Charleston on CSX.

[Lunican]

CSX's version is called the National Gateway project with the same goal of clearing double stack trains from the Mid Atlantic to the Midwest.

The National Gateway will address several key freight rail corridors as vital links between Mid Atlantic seaports and key Midwest distribution points and population centers. For clarity, these rail corridors are often informally named for parallel Interstate highways:

The I-95/I-81 Corridor between North Carolina and Baltimore, Maryland via Washington, D.C.
The I-70/I-76 Corridor between Washington, D.C. and northwest Ohio via Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The I-40/Carolina Corridor between Wilmington, North Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina

http://www.nationalgateway.org/background/about

[spuwho]

CSX's version is called the National Gateway project with the same goal of clearing double stack trains from the Mid Atlantic to the Midwest.

The National Gateway will address several key freight rail corridors as vital links between Mid Atlantic seaports and key Midwest distribution points and population centers. For clarity, these rail corridors are often informally named for parallel Interstate highways:

The I-95/I-81 Corridor between North Carolina and Baltimore, Maryland via Washington, D.C.
The I-70/I-76 Corridor between Washington, D.C. and northwest Ohio via Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The I-40/Carolina Corridor between Wilmington, North Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina

http://www.nationalgateway.org/background/about

I remember a CSX press release on how they were investing in the Chicago/Jax route to facilitate future Panamax traffic. I had that in mind while I watched the NS video.

Shippers typically prefer the cheapest route if timing is not critical. That being the case the later they can port and get it closer to a destination the better. If timing is everything, they will choose a port as close as possible to get it on rail asap (as long as the drayage is short).

Supposedly, that is the Jax advantage thus far.