CSXT conducting $10-million upgrade of its West Springfield freight yard
Written by jrood
CSX Transportation has set December as its target to complete $10 million in upgrades and improvements at its freight yard off Day Street in West Springfield, Mass., The Republican reports. The work, which started in July, will consist mostly of extensive paving with an elaborate retention basin system for capturing and cleansing runoff before discharging the water into the city's storm water system, according to Maurice J. O'Connell, a regional vice president for CSXT.
There will also be
landscaping, lighting, fencing and security cameras as well as new, less noisy
cranes and about 3,000 feet of new track.
The improvements should
make the freight yard look like "a 21st century terminal," O’Connell said.
CSXT is doing the work to
be ready to take advantage of the fact that starting in 2012, Massachusetts
will allow rail companies to "double stack" freight containers. That will allow
them to put one container on top of another, doubling the amount of freight
each car can transport. O’Connell said the state is in the process of raising
bridges, and the rail company is undercutting tracks to make that possible.
Because rail transport is
three times more energy efficient than moving goods by truck, CSXT officials
are hopeful of increasing business.
"There is a real
opportunity to grow the business," O’Connell said.
Robert T. Sullivan, a
spokesman for the company, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce projects a
doubling of freight traffic over the next 15 to 20 years.
The officials said West
Springfield’s proximity to the Massachusetts Turnpike and I-91 make it ideally
located for freight traffic. Most of the containers on rail cars are
transported to and from freight yards by trucks. They said that the expansion
could spur development of warehousing and other facilities in the area.
Mayor Edward J. Gibson said
that is a possibility, and that he is pleased to see the work get started as it
has been years in the making.
"I’m always thrilled when
we’ve got a business in West Springfield that is expanding," Gibson said.
