Norfolk Southern opens 'anchor' port in Columbus, Ohio

Norfolk Southern Corp. opened a $68.5 million terminal Monday near Columbus, Ohio, intended in part to handle cargo flowing to and from the port of Hampton Roads.

The Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal will "anchor" the Norfolk-based railroad's Heartland Corridor project, said Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern chairman and CEO, in a statement. "Intermodal" refers to cargo containers and trailers that can be carried via trains, trucks and ships.

Another $150 million is being spent on the project to increase tunnel heights on Norfolk Southern's line between Hampton Roads and the Midwest through West Virginia. The corridor will allow the passage of trains carrying cargo containers stacked two high.

The Rickenbacker terminal covers about 175 acres and has the capacity to handle more than 250,000 cargo containers and truck trailers annually, according to the railroad. The facility can be significantly expanded, Norfolk Southern said.

Six trains daily - four between Rickenbacker and Chicago and two between Rickenbacker and Norfolk - are serving the terminal, according to Norfolk Southern.

Federal and state money paid for about 30 percent of the terminal's cost, said Norfolk Southern spokesman Rudy Husband.

Gregory Richards, (757) 446-2599, gregory.richards@pilotonline.com