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Yesterday, CSX Transportation announced work has been completed or is under way on one-third of the clearance projects included in the National Gateway initiative’s first phase, which involves an intermodal corridor between North Baltimore, Ohio, and Chambersburg, Pa.

The progress on the gateway — a public-private partnership initiative that calls for creating a double-stack corridor between Mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest — means the project remains on track for completion by 2015, CSXT officials said in a prepared statement. CSXT is targeting completion by 2015 to coincide with the expansion of the Panama Canal, which is expected to generate more traffic through East Coast ports.

“Over the next few years, the National Gateway will move forward aggressively to invest in strategic freight-rail infrastructure that will prepare our nation for continued growth and competition in the global economy,” said Louis Renjel, CSXT’s vice president of strategic infrastructure initiatives.

The project includes vertical clearances at 61 locations on CSXT lines to accommodate double-stack container trains. Work has been completed at five locations — including several new bridges — and continues at 15 other locations. Ongoing work includes improving five tunnels in Confluence, Pa., Hansrote, W.Va., and Magnolia, Md., by modifying tunnel linings to provide necessary clearances; and raising four highway bridges and lowering tracks at three others in Ohio to improve clearances.

Meanwhile, truckload, logistics and intermodal services provider Schneider National Inc. yesterday announced it has launched a “Canada Direct” cross-border intermodal service with CN offering “truck-like service and transit times,” according to a prepared statement.

“Canada Direct was intended to be a premium door-to-door service offering that would make doing business across the U.S.–Canada border — the largest international trade lane — much more seamless for shippers,” said Steve Van Kirk, Schneider National’s senior vice president of intermodal commercial management.

Schneider National has had a Canadian presence for more than 20 years and has “pioneered the expertise” to pre-clear customers’ loads for faster transportation across the border, cutting costs and reducing delays, he said.

Canada Direct expands Schneider National’s intermodal cross-border services, which also include a Mexico Direct service with Kansas City Southern.