Site certification programs solicit industrial development wins for CN, CSX
11/4/2024
By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
In mid-September, an event held in Edson, Alberta, marked a success for CN’s Certified Rail Ready Site program.
Pivotal Energy Partners Inc. held a grand opening ceremony Sept. 16 for a new natural gas processing facility. Served by CN, the facility processes propane. Pivotal Energy provides transportation, processing and marketing services for various energy products, including natural gas and crude oil.
The site in Edson features existing track that made the property ideal for Pivotal Energy’s needs, CN officials said in an email. The site was certified as “rail ready” in June 2021 by CN's business development team.
Through the railroad’s Certified Rail Ready Site program, strategically positioned industrial sites in Canada and the United States along CN’s network are thoroughly evaluated and independently certified for industrial development. CN works with owners of land adjacent to its network to identify sites that have the potential to be developed to meet a customer’s industrial needs.
Certified rail ready sites provide direct access to the Class I’s 20,000-mile network, offer a pre-evaluated property, reduce time from site selection to construction, and align with the railroad’s operations and experienced logistics team, CN officials say.
“The advantage of having these sites certified Rail Ready helps reduce the time and risk for customers when looking to develop new projects, offering them the ability to get their operations up and running quickly so that they can start shipping faster,” said CN Senior Manager of Media Relations Ashley Michnowski.
The certification process is conducted by a third party and involves meeting various criteria, including municipal zoning, availability of utilities — such as electrical, natural gas, water, wastewater and telecommunications — access to highways and passing an environmental assessment.
“Once certified, CN operations are then able to quickly service the site when new customers, like Pivotal Energy, show interest,” said Michnowski.
Propane shipments at Pivotal Energy’s Edson facility began in September prior to the grand opening.
“CN couldn’t be happier with the success of this collaboration,” said Michnowski.
Since the CSX Select Site program was launched in 2012, it has generated about $17.7 billion in capital investments and helped create about 14,000 new jobs. CSX
CSX: So many gains from a ‘Select’ few
Meanwhile, CSX also is basking in the glow of a recent major success that was driven by its site certification program. On Oct. 9, Georgia-Pacific celebrated the opening a new Dixie paper products manufacturing facility in Jackson, Tennessee, that involved the CSX Select Site program.
The $425 million plant is the result of a partnership between CSX, Georgia-Pacific and the town of Jackson over the past several years, CSX officials say.
Working closely with Georgia-Pacific and Jackson officials, members of CSX ‘s industrial development team helped identify a site that met the project’s infrastructure, rail access, utilities and skilled workforce needs. The CSX team served as a connector and liaison between Georgia-Pacific and the local community.
The 900,000-square-foot plant situated on 240 acres will produce Dixie paper plates and bowls.
The CSX Select Site program enabled Georgia-Pacific to validate that the property would be shovel-ready and easier to develop, and be accessible by rail, according to the shipper.
Launched in 2012, the CSX Select Site program maintains a database of over 1,000 possible shovel-ready and certified sites, and helps communities market their sites to potential manufacturers or developers. Sites are certified according to property size, rail access, proximity to highways, workforce availability, utilities access and other factors thorough review of environmental and geo-technical standards.
In late October, CSX announced the Rickenbacker South Industrial Rail Park in Harrison Township, Ohio, and RailPort Logistics Mobile facility in Mobile, Alabama, have been designated as Platinum CSX Select Sites.
To receive the platinum status, a site must meet a rigorous list of criteria, including infrastructure and utility availability, environmental reviews, appropriate zoning and entitlement, air quality permitting, rail serviceability and proximity to highways or interstates.
The 671-acre Rickenbacker park is adjacent to a CSX mainline in Columbus, Ohio, while the more than 500-acre RailPort Logistics facility served by the railroad is located less than three miles from two separate interchanges on Interstate 10.
The rail park is the third site in Ohio and the logistics facility is the fourth site in Alabama to receive the platinum designation since 2012. Now, 28 properties across CSX’s network have that designation.
Since the CSX Select Site program was launched, it has generated about $17.7 billion in capital investments and helped create about 14,000 jobs.