CSX National Gateway eyes 2015 opening

CSX Transportation announced Tuesday that work is now complete or under way at one-third of the clearance projects required for phase one of itspublic-private National Gateway initiative, which spans a rail corridor between North Baltimore, Ohio, and Chambersburg, Pa. This progress keeps the project on track for completion by 2015.

Vertical clearances will be raised at 61 locations to create a double-stack raised corridor between Atlantic seaports and the Midwest. To date, work is complete at five of the locations, and crews are working at 15 others. Theprojects already completed include bridges in Hyndman and Chartiers Creek,Pa., which were modified for double-stack usage.

CSX said work has started on other projects in its phase one construction, with five tunnel improvement jobs under way in Confluence, Pa., Hansrote, W. Va., and Magnolia, Md., where tunnel linings are being modified to provide the necessary clearance.

CSX is also raising four highway bridges and lowering the tracks at three others in Ohio.

CSX recently announced that it will invest an additional $160 million to complete the National Gateway. This brings CSX’s planned private investment in the project to about $575 million over several years.

One of the nation’s largest transportation projects, the National Gateway will create more than 50,000 jobs over a 30-year period by creating a more efficient intermodal network and expanding double-stack capabilities. CSX is targeting a 2015 completion date to coincide with the expansion of the Panama Canal, which is expected to bring more traffic through East Coast ports.