Norfolk Southern has announced it will reopen its intermodal facility in Pennsylvania, US, to support economic growth and help ease supply chain congestion across the country.
Effective 10 September 2021, the company plans a gradual phase-in of business at the Franklin County Regional Intermodal Facility, starting with a lane of domestic intermodal traffic that currently moves goods in Memphis and Rutherford in South Central Pennsylvania.
Chief Marketing Officer Alan Shaw said, “With strong growth in volume driven by e-commerce and a recovering economy, we believe the timing is right to bring our Greencastle facility back online.
“We are excited about the new opportunities that this reopening provides for us and for our business partners across Pennsylvania and beyond.
“We are collaborating with our customers to support their business needs, offering shippers a more sustainable transportation solution and a commitment to best-in-class service.”
Norfolk Southern opened the Greencastle facility in January 2013 as part of its Crescent Corridor initiative, a public-private partnership designed to convert freight from highway to rail to ease congested roadways and reduce carbon emissions while creating opportunities for jobs and economic development.
Under the initiative, the railroad also constructed intermodal terminals in Birmingham, Charlotte, and Memphis as part of a 2,500-mile rail corridor from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast.
The company idled the Greencastle terminal in 2019 for business reasons, while leaving open the possibility of resuming operations if market conditions changed.
A combination of factors, including a rapid rise in e-commerce, strong market demand, and pandemic-driven supply chain changes, figured into the decision to reopen Greencastle.
The added capacity at Greencastle is expected to reduce terminal congestion and improve network fluidity across Pennsylvania.
The Greencastle terminal has the capacity for an estimated 100,000 shipping container lifts annually. A lift occurs every time a container is lifted onto or off of a rail car. The first phase of traffic at Greencastle is expected to generate around 50,000 lifts.
