Short line project improves Va. port access

Short line project improves Va. port access    Double-stack intermodal service is scheduled to begin this week on a relocated rail line that connects the Port of Virginia to the Norfolk Southern's Heartland Corridor route to Columbus, Ohio.
   The safer and more efficient service was made possible by a $60 million, 2.5-year project to eliminate 14 at-grade street crossings on the Commonwealth Railway's mainline that serves the APM Terminal in Portsmouth and eventually will connect to a future terminal on Craney Island.
   The project, which actually was completed late last year, involved moving 4.5 miles of line out of densely populated areas to the median of state route 164 and Interstate 664.
   Freight trains are able to move much faster, up to 25 mph, than they did on the previous stretch of track, the Virginia Port Authority said.
   A parallel set of tracks is to be completed in the spring with the help of a $9 million state contribution of federal stimulus act money.
   The VPA coordinated the project with help from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
   To read more about the project and Virginia's commitment to intermodal rail enhancements, see 'Virginia is for freight' in September American Shipper. ' Eric Kulisch