(CSX Transportation issued the following news release on July 1.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., — CSX Transportation Inc. (CSXT), a unit of CSX Corporation, has suspended operations on a key rail line from Elkhorn City, Ky., to Laurens, S.C., for the next eight days while hundreds of railroad employees perform track upgrades, highway-rail crossing improvements and bridge and tunnel repairs.
The engineering “Jamboree,” scheduled for Monday, June 30, through Tuesday, July 8, will enable CSXT to complete in nine days what would take two months if train operations were not rerouted. This year’s Jamboree is the largest of several such events the railroad has held across its 23,000-mile rail network since 1999, and materials have been pre-staged during the past six months.
“Jamborees have been a highly successful way of completing a large amount of work in a short period of time,” said Tom Schmidt, vice president- engineering. “Rather than work in brief windows between train movements, we’re able to have the rail line to ourselves until the work is finished. That makes for a safer work environment and minimizes disruptions for our customers and for the communities through which we operate.”
As a key transportation artery in the Southeast, the line typically handles more than 25 trains per day. CSXT began rerouting train traffic off the line Saturday, and by Wednesday, July 9, train operations will be back to normal.
While some trains will be re-routed, the overall effect is minimized by the traditional miners’ summer vacation in late June and early July, and by extensive coordination with shippers and receivers that included early shipments of coal, merchandise and intermodal freight that preceded the Jamboree. Some coal shipments that must continue will be routed to Corbin, Ky., and down through Atlanta. Others will go via Russell, Ky., to Richmond, Va., and south over CSXT’s I-95 corridor. Norfolk Southern also is helping with some merchandise and intermodal traffic reroutes over its lines between Charlotte, N.C., and Spartanburg, S.C., and Knoxville and Kingsport, Tenn.
The railroad also has contacted local officials to help ensure that the public knows the project is under way.
For the 2003 Jamboree, 17 large tie and rail crews will refurbish track segments, including 16 track miles of new rail and the replacement of 172,000 crossties. In addition, crews will repair four bridges and 18 tunnels.
Another focus of the Jamboree will be to make improvements to 153 highway- rail crossings along the line. Maintenance teams expect to keep most crossings out of service for eight to 10 hours. Some private crossings may be closed overnight.
Although revenue train operations will cease between Elkhorn City, Ky., and Laurens, S.C., during the Jamboree, residents throughout the region should remain alert to moving work equipment and trains transporting ballast, the rocky material that supports the rail and ties.
“It is critical for residents to continue to be alert to moving rail traffic, particularly at grade crossings,” Schmidt said. “Motorists and pedestrians should obey crossing gates and signals, and stop, look and listen before crossing onto railroad property.”
CSX Corporation, based in Jacksonville, Fla., owns the largest rail network in the eastern United States. CSXT and its 34,000 employees provide rail transportation services over a 23,000 route-mile network in 23 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces. CSX Corporation also provides intermodal and global container terminal operations through other subsidiaries.