Norfolk Southern thanks state partners in Crescent Corridor stimulus application

NORFOLK, VA. – Norfolk Southern commended its partners in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee for their leadership in supporting the Crescent Corridor program (see map) to increase rail freight transportation capacity and improve mobility and the environment.

“On behalf of Norfolk Southern, I thank our partners for their farsighted support of the Crescent Corridor,” said CEO Wick Moorman. “The Crescent Corridor is a tremendous economic advantage for the states and the nation. It will stimulate jobs, tax revenue, and business growth, while delivering substantial public benefits for communities and customers. Governors Ed Rendell, Tim Kaine, Bob Riley, Haley Barbour, and Phil Bredesen are leading the way in showing how public-private partnerships can create safe, affordable, green solutions to America’s transportation infrastructure challenges.”

Lead state Pennsylvania on Sept. 14 submitted “The Crescent Corridor Intermodal Freight Application” to apply for federal stimulus money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Program.

The application seeks $300 million in support of new independent intermodal facilities at Memphis, Birmingham, and Franklin County, Pa.; and the expansion of intermodal terminals in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Track improvements in the five partner states will include 10 passing tracks, 557 individual speed improvements, and 393 miles of track improved with upgraded rail.

These projects will help the Crescent Corridor – an existing 2,500-mile rail network supporting the supply chain from Memphis and New Orleans to New Jersey – handle more rail freight traffic, faster and more reliably, creating or benefiting some 47,000 green jobs and producing these estimated annual benefits:

-- $326 million in tax revenues to states and communities

-- 1.3 million long-haul trucks diverted from interstates

-- $146 million in accident avoidance savings

-- 1.9 million tons in CO2 reduction

-- $575 million in congestion savings

-- $92 million in highway maintenance savings

-- 169 million gallons in fuel savings

In their TIGER application, the five partner states described the Crescent Corridor as, “one of the single largest additions of new freight transportation capacity in America since the Interstate Highway System. Building the last long haul intermodal freight distribution supply chain is one of the best transportation investments of our time.”

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 21,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, and provides efficient connections to other rail carriers. Norfolk Southern operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is a major transporter of coal and industrial products.