Port of Virginia Expands Intermodal Rail to Reach Midwestern Markets

After two years of work, the Port of Virginia's central rail yard project is operational and in service at Norfolk International Terminals. The yard expands the port's ability to compete in Midwestern containerized freight markets, which are served in large part by intermodal rail. It is a step in a series of major infrastructure projects that are designed to set Virginia apart as an East Coast gateway for shippers and ocean carriers. 

"Modernizing and expanding the capability at NIT’s central rail yard gives us additional rail capacity ahead of the completion of the first phase of expansion at NIT’s North Berth [next year]," said Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority. "Cargo volumes coming to the US East Coast are steadily increasing and moving the cargo to market by rail, over The Port of Virginia, is smart business."

The central yard consists of two bundles of rail tracks and three electric RTGs, installed at a cost of $83 million. The state of Virginia and the federal government covered half the cost. Taken together, the new rail infrastructure increases the port's on-dock container-on-rail capacity by a third, adding up to 450,000 TEU per year of throughput over CSX and Norfolk Southern. 

The rail investment echoes the development strategy of the Port of Savannah, which has the largest on-terminal rail yard in the U.S. Completed in 2021, the "Mason Mega-Rail" facility doubled Savannah's intermodal rail capacity to two million TEU. It was built from the start to reach inland markets as far away as Dallas or Chicago. 

The NIT central rail yard is one part of Port of Virginia's $1.4 billion plan to attract bigger ships in bigger numbers. It is also expanding NIT's north berth and dredging out its channel to a depth of 55 feet, which will make it the deepest port on the U.S. East Coast.