NS advances plan to expand Chicago-area yard, launches new intermodal service in South Carolina

The Chicago City Council yesterday agreed to expand a pair of tax-incremental financing districts to enable Norfolk Southern Railway to proceed with a more than $200 million expansion of its intermodal yard in Englewood, Ill.

The Class I plans to enlarge the yard by 57 percent, or 84 acres. NS agreed to retrofit trucks and construction equipment, provide funds for transportation improvements and area schools, and donate unused rail spurs that the city expects to convert into an elevated bike trail.

NS also yesterday launched a regular intermodal service to and from the South Carolina Inland Port (SCIP) in Greer, S.C., and the Port of Charleston, S.C.

The new service will offer shippers of 20-, 40- and 45-foot containers a new alternative for moving freight between Charleston and the upstate South Carolina region, NS officials said in a notice posted on the Class I's website.

The South Carolina Ports Authority's SCIP opened last month. The terminal is linked to the port via NS' mainline and positioned along the rapidly growing Interstate 85 corridor midway between Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta. From the SCIP, shippers will have access to more than 94 million consumers within a one-day drive, according to the port authority.