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3/22/2023
Port of Virginia officials said yesterday the port is on schedule to complete a major rail expansion project at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT).
Expected to be completed in 2024, the $83 million project is designed to boost the port’s capacity to handle rail cargo by more than 35%, port officials said in a press release.
The project is part of the port’s $1.4 billion Gateway Investment Program, a capital construction initiative that includes expansion of the North Berth and deepening channels to at least 55 feet.
Work on the rail expansion began in 2022 at the Central Rail Yard, which bisects NIT into its north and south sides, port officials said. The work calls for two new rail track bundles with three cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes, resulting in an additional 455,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of annual on-dock rail capacity.
The expansion will give the port a total projected annual rail capacity of 1.78 million TEUs.
"Our rail volume is increasing and as the ships get bigger and we get more efficient, there will be a growing demand for our rail services,” said Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards.
The port is served by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX.