Federal funding of $98 million to rebuild rail lines in the Midwest will have a direct impact on southwestern Pennsylvania, where lines will be upgraded to carry double-stack freight trains. Nineteen individual projects from bridge modification to terminal construction comprise the effort to speed freight along the I-70/I-76 corridor between Washington, D.C. and northwest Ohio via Pittsburgh.
Richard VanOnrum, spokesman for the National Gateway, says the improvements and the resulting railroad operations will create approximately 10,000 jobs over the next 30 years in Pennsylvania.
The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) discretionary grant funds will help complete the $842 million project, to which sponsoring states have pledged $189 million and international transportation company CSX has contributed $395 million.
CSX and the National Gateway coalition plan to put the TIGER funds to work as quickly as possible on construction projects that enhance the use of fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly freight rail, says CSX spokesman Bob Sullivan in a statement. Details of the bidding process have not yet been determined, he said, but CSX and the National Gateway Coalition are committed to following all of the applicable bidding requirements.”
Overall, the project will create more than 50,000 jobs, reduce transit times between coastal ports and major inland population centers by 24 to 48 hours, and reduce highway congestion and transportation emissions.
Source: Richard Van Onrum, National Gateway; Bob Sullivan, CSX
Writer: Chris OToole