BNSF, CSX intermodal service will connect L.A., Toledo

CSX also will offer improved access to the Ohio rail hub from the Port of New York and New Jersey.     BNSF Railway Co. and CSX Corp. said Tuesday they will offer direct intermodal rail service between Los Angeles and CSX’s intermodal hub in North Baltimore, Ohio, 30 miles south of Toledo.
   The domestic and international container-only service is expected to begin Oct. 29. BNSF said the service is “designed to simplify customer supply chains” and will run both eastbound and westbound, with departure offerings five days a week in each direction.
   In Los Angeles, BNSF said the Ohio Valley intermodal service will originate and depart from its Hobart Facility in Los Angeles. The service can serve international containers moving through the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach.
   CSX said “a new haulage agreement with the BNSF… enhances western access into the Ohio Valley.”
   Trains using BNSF power will travel directly to North Baltimore. They will change crew in Chicago.
   In addition, CSX made two other announcements concerning the Northwest Ohio Intermodal Terminal in North Baltimore, a massive rail hub that opened in 2011.
   • CSX will offer expanded eastern access to the facility via new service to and from the Port of New York and New Jersey.
   • Kansas City-based NorthPoint Development, in partnership with CSX, will construct a logistics park adjacent to the rail hub. CSX said Northpoint will have access to more than 500 acres for the project. The logistics park will include traditional warehousing and distribution capabilities, as well as value-added services such as a container yard and equipment storage, export container stuffing and transload and breakbulk resources, all within a heavy-haul local corridor.
   In 2006, BNSF and CSX announced plans to create a high-volume rail corridor to connect California, Atlanta and the rest of the Southeast.
   BNSF said Tuesday, “Much like the BNSF route from Southern California to Atlanta, a portion of this new service from the Los Angeles region to North Baltimore will operate under a haulage agreement with CSX. The route will traverse BNSF’s Southern Transcon through and beyond Chicago to the Ohio Valley.”