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CSX Transportation plans to soon launch a major track capacity expansion project on its River Line between northern New Jersey and the Albany, N.Y., region, the Class I announced yesterday.

The $26 million project calls for constructing 18 miles of double track during the next two to three years, adding capacity on the Hudson River's west shore. Preliminary site work in Ravena-Coxsackie, Catskill and Haverstraw already is complete. Construction is scheduled to begin early this year.

The River Line was last expanded in 2005 and traffic has increased consistently since then, according to a press release. The latest project, and plans for additional River Line expansion in the future, will enable CSX to handle more trains and support the growth of crude oil moving by rail, as well as intermodal and automobile shipments, according to the Class I.

"Demand for crude oil, for example, in the New Jersey and Philadelphia area may be as much as five trains per day, or over 400,000 barrels, over the next couple of years," said CSX Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Oscar Munoz in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, CSX continues to invest in terminals, clearance projects and other initiatives to prepare for near- and long-term growth in the Northeast. The projects complement other network capacity improvements, such as the National Gateway, which will clear a route for double-stack containers to travel from mid-Atlantic ports to the Midwest.