CSX: Projects will provide jobs, reduce fuel costs

CSX Transportation and National Gateway officials want people to get all aboard and support a series of projects that will connect East Coast ports to the Midwest using double-stacked trains, the Daily American reports. About nine projects are slated for the Somerset County, Pa., region, according to Richard VanOrnum, a spokesman with National Gateway.

National Gateway is the
partnership program that is expected to have significant environmental and
economic benefits as well as enhance rail infrastructure.

CSXT held a public meeting
in Somerset and Bedford counties last month to address the public’s concerns.
Officials want residents to know this is not a project that will fall by the
way side.

"We’re 100 percent
committed to this project," said Randy Cheetham, regional vice president
for CSXT.

CSX has committed $395
million to the $842 million partnership. The company projects $189 million will
come from the six states involved in the project, with the remaining $258 from
the federal government. Cheetham said Pennsylvania has pledged $35 million
toward the project through the Rural Technical Assistance Program (RTAP)
through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

"This is moving forward,"
Cheetham said. "There’s a lot of money out there and there’s already been
a lot spent. It’s certainly much more than just an idea."

Officials say the rail
project will help boost local economy and provide more jobs. About 10,000 jobs
are expected in Pennsylvania as a result of the long-term project. VanOrnum could
not provide a break down of how many jobs could be expected in Somerset County
alone. Jobs in construction, distributions centers, trucking jobs and temporary
work would be created.

"There are direct and
indirect jobs," said Bob Sullivan, spokesman with CSXT. "The direct
jobs would be in construction and more permanent jobs for the project. Then the
ripple effect would be indirect jobs that would be created as a result of the
construction of new facilities."

Somerset County
Commissioner Jim Marker said he hopes that the projects do not solely benefit
the company.

"I’m in support of
local construction jobs and hopefully CSXT will buy locally and use local
contracting to accomplish their improvements," he said.

Sullivan said local
communities should back up their local projects because the new system will
help reduce highway congestion as well as reduce fuel costs and carbon
emissions.

Some local projects include
replacing a railroad bridge on Church Street in Garrett Borough, raising the
Keystone Viaduct in Sand Patch and modifying the Pinkerton Railroad Tunnel in
Black Township. The earliest projects could begin this summer in Somerset
County, according to officials.

"We should be
concluding engineering and design work and hope to be moving dirt and have
things under way sometimes this summer for Somerset County," Cheetham
said.

Transportation officials
hope residents recognize that traffic detours during the construction projects
will result in significant benefits once complete.

Sullivan expects there to
be a 60 to 70 percent increase in freight traffic in the next decade. One of
the factors that will drive increased freight along the coast is the expansion
of the Panama Canal, expected to open in 2015.

"More freight will be
moving through the ports on the East Coast," he said. "In a lot of ways
that’s right around the corner."