(The following article by Gregory Richards was posted on the Virginian Pilot website on September 5.)
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Southern Corp. joined three states and the federal government in announcing Tuesday that the financing is now in place for the central part of the Heartland Corridor project: raising the ceilings of 28 tunnels to permit the passage of taller trains between Hampton Roads and Chicago.
The Norfolk-based railroad, the Federal Highway Administration and the states of Virginia, Ohio and West Virginia said an agreement has been reached to permit the release of $95 million of federal money to modify the tunnels so trains stacked two-high with truck-size cargo containers can pass through.
The Heartland Corridor will provide a quicker and more direct rail route between the port of Hampton Roads and the Midwest. With the tunnels raised, trains could shave about 233 miles and roughly a day of transit time off the trip.
Changing the tunnels will cost $150 million. Norfolk Southern is paying for the $55 million not coming from the federal government, said Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman.
Construction on the tunnels will begin late this year or early next year, he said. Engineering and environmental studies are under way. The tunnel work is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
The Heartland Corridor will cost a total of about $309 million, including relocating sections of rail track in Portsmouth and Chesapeake and building new cargo terminals in Roanoke; Prichard, W.Va.; and Columbus, Ohio.
Overall, the federal government is paying for $140.4 million of the project and Virginia will foot $22.3 million of the bill.