Construction commences on long-planned Palmetto Railways line in South Carolina
6/12/2023
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
After an eight-year effort to secure all required funding, Palmetto Railways last month marked the start of construction on the Camp Hall rail corridor in South Carolina.
The $185 million project calls for constructing a nearly 23-mile line from the Camp Hall Commerce Park in Ridgeville to a connection with a CSX line near a Santee Cooper power generating station in Cross. The line will include nine new grade crossings.
Palmetto Railways will build, own and operate the corridor, which is slated for completion in spring 2026. Previously known as South Carolina Public Railways, the short line operates about 90 miles of track in five South Carolina counties and interchanges with CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway.
The Camp Hall line is needed to provide current and future park tenants with rail service involving a Class I connection, and to meet their transportation, distribution and logistics needs, Palmetto Railways officials say. Current tenants include a large Volvo Car USA automotive facility, while upcoming tenants include a $3.5 billion Redwood Materials battery recycling plant that’s under construction.
The rail corridor was part of an incentive package the state of South Carolina provided Volvo in 2015 in exchange for selecting the Camp Hall site for the automaker’s first and only U.S. manufacturing plant. But difficulties in finalizing all of the necessary funding delayed the rail line for years.
A map shows the new rail corridor will run about 23 miles from the more than 6,000-acre Camp Hall park in Ridgeville (in the lower lefthand corner) to a CSX line located near a power station in Cross (in the upper righthand corner). Palmetto Railways In May, a state panel authorized the South Carolina Commerce Department to draw $48.5 million from a special economic development fund for the project, which helped kickstart the construction schedule. In addition to the state, Palmetto Railways, Volvo, CSX and the U.S. Department of Transportation are providing funds for the rail line.
Construction work currently is in the early stages. To say it’s a relief the project finally is underway is a huge understatement, Palmetto Railways officials say.
“It’s been a long time coming,” says Palmetto Railways President and CEO Patrick McCrory. “We look forward to continuing to work with our various partners through completion of this project.”
Volvo needs the rail service because it plans to transition production to electric vehicle assembly and seeks less reliance on international supply chains, state officials say. After the line is completed, CSX will transport a vast majority of produced vehicles heading to various points in the United States. Initially, one train will operate on the line each day for five days per week, Palmetto Railways officials estimate.
Currently, most assembled Volvo vehicles are trucked to a site near Columbia for loading onto rail cars. That has created more traffic congestion on Interstate 26 — a problem that will worsen as Volvo increases production and sources more automotive components from domestic suppliers, state officials say.
“The addition of a rail line will be a great benefit to Volvo and other industries in the surrounding area,” said Volvo Cars spokesperson Katherine Bergmann in a statement issued on the Camp Hall Commerce Park’s website. “This project represents a key investment in advancing industrial transportation capabilities, streamlining logistics and promoting economic growth.”
