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Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Sens. Jay Rockefeller (both D-W.Va.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced the West Virginia Ports Authority will receive a $12 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery III (TIGER III) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to help fund construction of a long-planned intermodal terminal along Norfolk Southern Railway’s Heartland Corridor near Prichard, W.Va.

In 2010, the port authority delayed development of the facility because of the soft economy and a lack of private developer interest in the terminal. Now, construction is slated to start next year. The facility will provide industries in the tri-state area of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio more modern and efficient freight container service and enhanced access to international rail lines, said Rahall in a prepared statement.

“With this new federal funding, we are really picking up steam in our efforts to advance the Prichard Intermodal Facility,” he said. “The public-private investment between the state, the federal government and Norfolk Southern holds tremendous promise for diversifying the economy and creating welcome needed jobs.”

The terminal is part of NS’ Heartland Corridor, a double-stack intermodal route between the Port of Virginia in Norfolk, Va., and Chicago. NS opened the corridor in September 2010.

The TIGER III grant “means the state can move forward with a project that will spur economic growth in the region by taking advantage of the improvements we completed last year in the Heartland Corridor,” said NS Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Wick Moorman. “We look forward to participating in that growth.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) on Tuesday announced that the USDOT awarded a $15 million TIGER III grant to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to help expand capacity at NS’ Rutherford intermodal facility near Harrisburg, Pa.

Harrisburg’s freight market is expected to begin new services from Memphis, Tenn., Birmingham, Ala., and Charlotte, N.C., in the next few years, dramatically increasing rail traffic, said Casey in a prepared statement, adding that the project will ensure the Rutherford facility can handle the increase in business.

“With the demand to move freight in the U.S. expected to nearly double over the next 20 years, and in order to handle the additional volume, we need to add capacity at our Rutherford intermodal facility … which already is operating at high capacity,” said Moorman.

The project also will reduce the number of trucks travelling on Pennsylvania’s roads, said Casey.

“By reducing the number of long haul trucks on Pennsylvania’s roadways by 600,000 a year, this project will benefit not only the local economy but drivers on interstates across the commonwealth as well,” he said.