Port of Virginia, CSX offer rail service to Pennsylvania, Ohio

With the opening of CSX’s new rail terminal in Pittsburgh earlier this month, the Port of Virginia is now able to offer rail service to Western Pennsylvania and Northwest Ohio.    The Port of Virginia now offers rail service to Western Pennsylvania and Northwest Ohio with the opening of the new CSX rail terminal in Pittsburgh, the Virginia Port Authority said in a statement.
   CSX’s National Gateway route between Norfolk and Pittsburgh will feature double-stack trains and open access to containers at the 70-acre intermodal terminal in Pittsburgh, said the port.
   “This will help to expand an important and growing market for The Port of Virginia,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “We are the East’s leading rail port: we’re moving 36 percent of our volume by rail and continuing to reduce our dwell times for rail containers. The goal is to continue growing our rail capabilities and offerings and expanding service in that region is critical to the effort.”
   The Port of Virginia began a $350 million rail terminal expansion project earlier this year at the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) container terminal in Portsmouth, with a second project on the books for Norfolk International Terminals (NIT).   
   According to the port, roughly 569,000 containers were moved by rail between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017, or more than an 11 percent increase in volume when compared with the same period the year prior.