ROSSVILLE, Tenn. — Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam joined state and local dignitaries and business and community leaders at the groundbreaking for the new Memphis Regional Intermodal Facility in Rossville, Tenn.
The $105 million facility is part of the multi-state $2.5 billion Crescent Corridor initiative to establish an efficient, high-capacity intermodal freight rail route between the South and the Northeast on Norfolk Southern’s rail network.
The new facility will be built on 380 acres in Fayette County and is expected to open in late 2012. Today’s groundbreaking is the second of four new Crescent Corridor intermodal terminals to be constructed or improved over the next two years.
“The Memphis intermodal facility will be an anchor of Norfolk Southern’s Crescent Corridor rail route connecting the Northeast and Southeast with high-speed, reliable, truck-competitive intermodal services,” said Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern’s chief executive officer. “We thank Secretary LaHood and USDOT for their support of public-private partnerships to create jobs and economic development opportunities.”
The Memphis Regional Intermodal Facility is expected to create or enhance 6,200 jobs in the Memphis region over the next 10 years, and its capacity will grow to handle 327,000 containers and trailers annually. The terminal will utilize the latest in gate and terminal automation technology, which shortens the waiting time for trucks entering the terminal, thereby reducing exhaust emissions and improving truck driver productivity.
Additionally, state-of-the-art, low-emission cranes will operate within the terminal. NS also will construct the main administration building to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification standards.
