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On Monday, Norfolk Southern Corp. will operate the first train on a new western Pennsylvania coal line. Known as the Shelocta Secondary, the line replaces a circuitous, limited-capacity route that’s 51 miles longer than the new line.

The Class I spent the past five years and $44 million to establish a direct rail connection between western Pennsylvania coal fields served by the railroad’s Conemaugh line in Saltsburg and a coal-fired generating station in Shelocta. NS expects to move more than 3 million tons of coal along the line annually.

In April 2005, NS began the project, which included building about five miles of track and right of way between Saltsburg and Clarksburg, and rehabilitating 11 miles of out-of-service rail between Clarksburg and Shelocta.