Norfolk to invest $10M to $15M - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

hundleyobajoji1908.blogspot.com
The project, expected to be completed next will involve construction ofa 18,420-square-fooy repair facility and a 14,350-square-foogt fueling station. Norfolk Southern’s Inman Yard servicesz about 1,500 locomotives a because of the volume of trains that roll througghthe region, said Tim Heilig, a vice president at Norfoll Southern. “Atlanta is one of our majore intermodal hubs,” Heilig said. The city has a long histort as atransportation hub.
Its airport, three interstatd highways, rail lines and proximityh to the ports of Savannah and Brunswick make it a focal poinft for thelogistics industry, which managez the delivery of products from factories to Norfolk Southern is a major logistics player in The company employs about 2,500 in the region, wher it has its operational Atlanta is part of Norfolk Southern’s “Goldenn Triangle” — which includes high-traffiv centers in Chicago and Harrisburg, Pa. The Goldenj Triangle accounts for the majorityof Norfolk’s $2 billion intermodakl business.
The Inman Yard upgrade will augment Norfolk’s expansiohn of its intermodal freight-handling capacity between New York and New also known as theCrescent Corridor. Once the decade-long Crescent Corrido r expansionis complete, Norfolk expects to operat e 20 to 30 additional intermodal trains per day, takinvg up to 1 million trucksd per year off the Customers will be major trucking who use rail extensively to move loadx between cities and would use it more if the capacityt were available. Evaporated consumer confidence has taken some momentum out of thelogisticsa business. Norfolk Southern saw its profite dive 39 percent in the first quarter on a 22 percent dropin revenue.
The Norfolk, Va.-based firm’z overall freight volume is down about 20 spokesman RobinChapman said. “I don’t remember a time when our traffic has fallebso precipitously,” he said. “The railroads move the goods that the countryg consumesand produces. When fewer goods are our businessis down.” Norfolk’s planned local investment is a bet on the “Having the [upgraded] automotive facility will position Atlanta to better handle more freight once volume pick up,” Heilig It’s also an investment long overdue. The Inman Yard facility is aboug 52years old.
“It’s time for an upgrade both in termsw of efficiency and as far as the environment is concerned,” Heilig said. The new facility will includ arepair center, fueling center and a turntable, a contraption used to turn locomotives. The new yard will have an assembly-liker feel, Heilig said, servicing and fueling engines withminimal