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Yesterday, Burlington Northern Santa Fe announced plans to expand Tennessee Yard, its Memphis intermodal facility. The $40 million project is scheduled to be completed by 2009.

The Memphis Industrial Development Board of Memphis and Shelby County recently agreed to provide BNSF a tax freeze ranging from nine to 13 years depending on the expansion's size and other project factors. To obtain the nine-year tax freeze, the railroad must expand the facility's annual capacity to 400,000 lifts and create 150 jobs.

"This cooperative agreement … is a critical step that will enable BNSF to successfully meet our projected growth demands for container traffic," said BNSF Vice President of Business Development Fritz Draper in a prepared statement. "We anticipate doubling our capacity to 400,000 container lifts within the next five years."