The Heartland Corridor is a public-private partnership between the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

(NS) and the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

and three U.S. states to improve

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

freight operations. The $150 million plan was developed to facilitate more efficient travel on NS rail lines between the

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...

port region and two Midwest destinations—

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. One of the project goals was to increase clearances in tunnels to permit the operation of double-stack intermodal trains, increasing the capacity of rail lines, shortening rail journeys and reducing tractor-trailer traffic. New shipping terminals for intermodal connections are also planned for key locations. Construction began in 2007, and the route opened for double stack service on September 9, 2010. The project involved raising clearances in 28 tunnels and 24 other overhead obstacles. A total of around of tunnels were modified. When completed, the new routing was expected to reduce travel times from port facilities in Virginia to Chicago to three days, improving on the previous four-day travel time and to reduce the distance traveled by . In June 2010, NS announced that it had reached an agreement with Ohio to extend a leg of the Heartland Corridor southwesterly from

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, which is located on the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

near the border where Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana converge. The $6.1 million cost will be funded with federal economic stimulus funds and the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, plus money from NS.

Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program is a $4.6 billion program to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of freight, commuter and intercity passenger rail and to reduce highway delay in the Chicago regi ...

(CREATE)

References

External links

NS Photos of Heartland Corridor Tunnel Expansion Projects
Norfolk Southern Railway Rail freight transportation in the United States Rail infrastructure in Illinois Transportation planning Rail infrastructure in Virginia {{US-rail-transport-stub

See also

References

External links