(Source: The State Record, May 30, 2013)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Shipping freight by container is a larger part of the rail freight traffic than it has been in the past, and it could get a big boost in the eastern United States in 2015 when expansion of the Panama Canal is finished. Work is underway to add new, larger locks to the canal to allow more and larger ships to transit. Cargo that had previously been unloaded on the West Coast will have access to deepwater ports at Miami, Norfolk and Baltimore, along with other ports that will have the water depth and equipment to handle the largest cargo ships. Meanwhile, the two major railroads on the East Coast — CSX and Norfolk Southern — have partnered with various government agencies to develop corridors to allow trains carrying containers stacked two high — hence the term double-stack — to travel from deepwater ports to inland cities. Work has involved raising the roofs of tunnels and increasing clearances on bridges and overpasses, among other things.
Full story: The State Record