Norfolk Southern Railway moved from an off-site yard into the Port of Baltimore's on-terminal yard (above) this week. CSX Transportation has used the on-dock yard for more than three decades. Photo credit: Ari Ashe/JOC.com.
Norfolk Southern Railway shifted its international intermodal operations into Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal this week, a move designed to speed the transfer between vessel and train, resulting in shorter dwells and quicker transit times to the Midwest.
The switch from NS’s Bayview Yard to the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF), which occurred Tuesday, is the latest effort by the Maryland Ports Authority and terminal operator Ports America to market the Port of Baltimore as an intermodal gateway to the Midwest.
With a faster transit time, the port authority and terminal operator hope to bolster its intermodal share, which is currently less than 5 percent of container traffic, according to Ports America.
“When you look at how long it takes the train to get from Baltimore to Chicago, versus other East Coast gateways, there's value in us being quicker than even New York and New Jersey. And then there's value to the railroad and the BCO in that shorter transit time as well,” Bayard Hogans, vice president of Ports America Chesapeake, told JOC.com. “Our goal is to figure out how we continue to make the gateway attractive for intermodal.”
Until now, NS built all intermodal trains in the Bayview Yard, which required containers to be trucked the four miles between the Seagirt Terminal and the yard. Trucks will no longer be necessary with the on-dock ICTF, allowing the repurposing of the trucks to bring laden imports to BCOs. CSX Transportation has been using the ICTF since 1988.
Hogans said the 66-acre ICTF has approximately 27,000 feet of track, enough room to handle the two Class I railroads and build large 10,000-foot train sets capable of holding between 200 and 600 containers, depending on whether it’s single- or double-stacked. NS coming into the terminal was a priority for the terminal operation when it gained control over the ICTF in 2016 through a lease with the Maryland Port Authority.
Solving the Howard Street Tunnel problem
The Howard Street Tunnel has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks to intermodal in Baltimore for decades. The 1.5-mile tunnel, which opened in 1895, is not high enough to support double-stack CSX intermodal trains. As a result, both East Coast Class I railroads have focused their intermodal investments in the Port of New York and New Jersey and Port of Virginia.
But last December, after seven years of lobbying, the Maryland Port Authority (MPA) secured the final $103 million of funding needed for the $466 million project that will expand the tunnel to accommodate double-stacked CSX intermodal trains. Barring any delays, the state has said it hopes reconstruction can be complete by 2024.
Once the Howard Street Tunnel project is complete, Hogans believes selling intermodal to BCOs using either NS or CSX will become much easier given both are now on-dock. The move this week was another step in a long process of dispelling “myths” about the Port of Baltimore, he said.
“A lot of the BCOs have discovered there is value in their supply chains being able to get to this market via water,” Hogans said. “Likewise, when the Howard Street Tunnel is completed, we're shooting to grow the business. We are hopeful that's going to happen with the intermodal in Baltimore upon the completion of the Howard Street Tunnel.”
Contact Ari Ashe at ari.ashe@ihsmarkit.com and follow him on Twitter: @arijashe.
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