Ground broken for NS Memphis intermodal site

Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam joined state and local dignitaries and business and community leaders Friday at the groundbreaking for the new Memphis Regional Intermodal Facility in Rossville, Tenn. The $105 million facility is part of NS’ multistate $2.5 billion Crescent Corridor initiative, in cooperation with numerous states and the federal government.

The new facility, to be built on 380 acres in Fayette County, Tenn., is expected to open in late 2012. Te groundbreaking is the second of four new Crescent Corridor intermodal terminals to be constructed or improved during the next two years.

The Memphis facility is expected to create or enhance 6,200 jobs in the Memphis region during the next 10 years, with capacity growing to handle 327,000 containers and trailers annually. The terminal will utilize the latest in gate and terminal automation technology, which shortens the waiting time for trucks entering the terminal, thereby reducing exhaust emissions and improving truck driver productivity. Additionally, NS said, state-of-the-art, low-emission cranes will operate within the terminal. NS also will construct the main administration building to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification standards.

“The Memphis intermodal facility will be an anchor of Norfolk Southern’s Crescent Corridor rail route connecting the Northeast and Southeast with high-speed, reliable, truck-competitive intermodal services,” said CEO Moorman (pictured at right). “We thank Secretary LaHood and USDOT for their support of public-private partnerships to create jobs and economic development opportunities. We also commend Gov. Haslam, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for their leadership in support of meaningful rail initiatives in Tennessee that will help solve our national transportation infrastructure crisis. We greatly appreciate the continued support of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, Mississippi DOT, and the Marshall County Industrial Development Authority for their awareness of the benefits that the project will have for the surrounding region.”

Crescent Corridor projects currently planned for development include new independent intermodal facilities at Birmingham, Ala., Charlotte, N.C., and Greencastle, Pa.; the expansion of the Harrisburg, Pa., intermodal terminal; and the addition of freight rail capacity in Virginia and Mississippi. The program also includes significant investments in rail route improvements consisting of additional passing tracks, double track projects, improved signaling systems, and other track speed enhancements.