You may have already heard the news, but a long-awaited major new rail terminal has just opened in the Pittsburgh region. The terminal offers shippers a new transportation option to move freight to and from Western Pennsylvania.
Word of this project was announced four years ago by CSX. A 70 acre site in McKees Rocks that was once the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie rail yard was chosen. This site is the last key component of CSX’s National Gateway Initiative, an $850 million public-private partnership designed to connect East Coast markets to consumers, manufacturers and businesses in the Midwest. According to CSX, more than 95% of their intermodal network now has sufficient enough tunnel clearance to handle trains with double-stacked containers on board, which obviously maximizes efficiency because each car can handle more cargo.
At Knichel Logistics, we are excited about this new terminal not only because it is essentially in our backyard, but because it promotes intermodal transit, which is beneficial in numerous ways. Utilizing rail shipping as a transportation option for long-haul freight (over 500 miles) reduces emissions and can save shippers money. Less fuel is consumed, more freight can be hauled, conversion to rail decreases highway congestion, and the environment is better off.
Pittsburgh has long been considered the "Gateway to the Midwest", so it makes sense for CSX to utilize this region as a connection point in their intermodal network. To find out more about CSX's Pittsburgh Intermodal Rail Terminal, click here.
