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1/6/2025
Norfolk Southern Railway has completed the final design for a series of bridge projects in Pittsburgh that will enable double-stack intermodal trains to pass through the city’s north side on the Class I's mainline tracks.
NS is working with Michael Baker International on the Pittsburgh Vertical Clearance Projects (PVC) in coordination with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the city of Pittsburgh.
The PVC projects will include the Pittsburgh Amtrak Station, West North Avenue Bridge, Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge and the Allegheny Commons Pedestrian Bridge, Pittsburgh officials said in a press release.
Height restrictions through the North Side prevent NS from operating double-stack intermodal trains and auto multilevel rail cars over its rail line, according to the NS website.
The scope of the project will include work limited to those areas and will no longer include the Columbus Avenue Track Lowering Project, which will be completed as a separate project, city officials said. The work will be done with funding from PennDOT; cost estimates for the entire series of projects was unavailable at press time.
When completed, the bridges will be dedicated to the city and become city assets. The proposed work for the Amtrak station project calls for construction to begin in spring or summer 2025.