The Heartland Corridor is a
public-private partnership between the
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
(NS) and the
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...
and three U.S. states to improve
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
freight operations.
The $150 million plan was developed to facilitate more efficient travel on NS rail lines between the
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
port region and two Midwest destinations—
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
. One of the project goals was to increase
clearances in tunnels to permit the operation of
double-stack intermodal trains,
[ increasing the capacity of rail lines, shortening rail journeys and reducing tractor-trailer traffic. New shipping terminals for intermodal connections are also planned for key locations.
Construction began in 2007, and the route opened for double stack service on September 9, 2010.]
The project involved raising clearances in 28 tunnels and 24 other overhead obstacles. A total of around of tunnels were modified. When completed, the new routing was expected to reduce travel times from port facilities in Virginia to Chicago to three days, improving on the previous four-day travel time and to reduce the distance traveled by .
In June 2010, NS announced that it had reached an agreement with Ohio to extend a leg of the Heartland Corridor southwesterly from Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
to Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, which is located on the Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
near the border where Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana converge. The $6.1 million cost will be funded with federal economic stimulus funds and the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, plus money from NS.
See also
* National Gateway
National Gateway is a multi-stage railroad construction project in the United States promoted by CSX Transportation, a unit of CSX Corporation. It is designed to improve rail connections between ports in the U.S. mid-Atlantic seaboard and the Midw ...
– railroad improvement project by CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
* Norfolk Southern Crescent Corridor
The Crescent Corridor is a railroad corridor operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). The project, first proposed in 2007, and scheduled for completion by 2020, spans 13 states from New York to Louisiana. It is a private-public partnersh ...
– proposed railroad project running between Louisiana and New Jersey
* Virginia Port Authority
The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is an autonomous government agency, agency (political subdivision) of the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns The Port of Virginia, a group of facilities with their activity centered on the harbor of Hampton Roads, ...
operator of three major port terminals on the harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
* (CREATE)
References
External links
NS Photos of Heartland Corridor Tunnel Expansion Projects
Norfolk Southern Railway
Rail freight transportation in the United States
Rail infrastructure in Illinois
Transportation planning
Rail infrastructure in Virginia
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