Photo by the author.

In the last installment, I described the Washington and Baltimore rail networks and their limitations. CSX hopes to surmount some of those limitations with their “National Gateway” initiative, which would upgrade freight rail infrastructure to accommodate double-stack container cars.

In May 2008, CSX announced a new initiative to improve the efficiency of America’s freight network. Their project, known as the “National Gateway” purports to decrease truck traffic on our crowded Interstates, create new jobs, and increase capacity for carrying freight between Mid-Atlantic Ports and the Midwest.

With an ever-increasing reliance on international shipping, standard shipping containers have become more commonplace. These containers can easily be placed on ships, trucks, and trains for transportation. Intermodal containers greatly improve the flexibility of our rail network and improve efficiency in the transportation system as a whole.

In 1984, the well car was introduced to American railroading. These cars allow for double-stacked shipping containers, increasing the amount of goods a train can haul. However on the east coast, double-stack intermodal trains are much rarer. The railroad infrastructure here is America’s oldest, and tunnels and bridges are not high enough to permit double-stack trains to connect ports like Baltimore and Hampton Roads with markets in the Midwest.

A CN Double-Stack near Kamloops, BC.

CSX’s main competitor is Norfolk Southern (NS). In 2006, NS embarked on it’s own double-stack proposal, known as the “Heartland Corridor.” This route is currently being improved to handle the taller trains, and will link the ports in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia to the Midwest. The Heartland Corridor, when complete, will shave 200 miles and a half-day off of the current route for NS double-stacks.

The Heartland Corridor, like the National Gateway, will involve raising the roofs of tunnels — even blasting them off entirely, if necessary — along with replacing bridges. But also important to enabling increased capacity for double-stack trains is the construction of new facilities to transfer shipping containers between ships and trains and between trains and trucks.

Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor got a helping hand from state governments and the US Department of Transportation. Of the estimated $151 million cost of the main line between Norfolk and Chicago, US DOT paid $95 million in addition to Virginia’s $9.75 million and Ohio’s $800 thousand. Overall, the project’s cost was $311 million, including projects in several places to build or improve intermodal terminals.

In order to keep competing, CSX is working on getting public funding for the National Gateway. This proposal will involve raising the clearance of 61 bridges and tunnels in six states and the District of Columbia. The National Gateway proposal also calls for six new or improved intermodal terminals along the way, including one near Baltimore.

To fund this public-private partnership, CSX is calling for $194 million (25%) from the federal government and $193 million (25%) from the states involved to add to their own commitment of $387 million (50%). CSX claims that the benefits will be manifold, including adding jobs through the construction and operation of the new terminals, a reduction in highway congestion and accidents, a savings of more than $500 million in highway maintenance costs, and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

And commuters on other modes have much to gain as well. By eliminating track bottlenecks like the Virginia Avenue tunnel in Southeast DC, commuters on MARC’s Camden and Brunswick Lines will experience less freight congestion.

The route for freight trains from the Mid-Atlantic to the Midwest passes through Washington. In order to allow for double-stack trains, a clearance of 21 feet is needed. In order to achieve that, CSX needs to conduct 13 clearance projects in the region. Of these, six are in Maryland, one is in Virginia, and six are in the District of Columbia.

Left: CSX trains rumbling under the L’Enfant Promenade.

Right: 12th Street ramp and 10th Street from the front of a VRE train.

Last Month, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments introduced a draft letter confirming their support of the National Gateway project to CSX. Because these projects fall within the jurisdiction of MWCOG, their support is vital, as is the support of Maryland and Virginia’s governors, both of whom have already pledged their support.

Here are the Washington area projects in the National Gateway. Click on each link for an image of the project area:

All photos by Matt Johnson

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Tagged: freight rail, transit

Matt Johnson has lived in the Washington area since 2007. He has a Master’s in Planning from the University of Maryland and a BS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech. He lives in Dupont Circle. He’s a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and is an employee of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. His views are his own and do not represent those of his employer.