Feature, Freight News, Rail, Sea

Virginia Central Rail Yard Operational

[ October 4, 2024   //   Gary G Burrows ]

The Port of Virginia’s expanded central rail yard is fully operational, signaling the completion of a project giving the port the capacity to process 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, by rail annually.
“Modernizing and expanding the capability at NIT’s [Norfolk International Terminals] central rail yard gives us additional rail capacity ahead of the completion of the first phase of expansion at NIT’s North Berth [in 2025],” said Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority.
The expansion enhances the port’s reach to Midwestern population and manufacturing centers by train.
“We are proud to be a steward of this port modernization project contributing a US$20 million investment which not only expands the Norfolk International Terminals’ central rail yard but serves to elevate the entire Port of Virginia as a critical hub for trade on the East Coast,” said Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg.
Construction began in 2022, and the US$83-million project was delivered on-time and on-budget; the investment is part of the port’s larger US$1.4 billion Gateway Investment Program. The port used a US$20 million U.S. Transportation Department grant and a US$20 million grant from the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation to build two new rail track bundles and purchase three all-electric cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes. The project increased the port’s on-dock rail capacity by 31 percent, or 455,000 TEUs, port-wide.
The Gateway Investment Program includes a deeper, wider and safer 55-foot channel, the expansion of North NIT and the creation of the Portsmouth offshore wind hub. This additional rail capacity has been delivered on-time, in advance of the deeper channel and phase one of the North Berth expansion.
Eastern Class I railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX serve the port with regular, on- dock, double-stack service.
The Virginia Port Authority and its private operating subsidiary, Virginia International Terminals LLC, operate four general cargo facilities: Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County. The VPA leases Virginia International Gateway and Richmond Marine Terminal.

Tags: Port of Virginia