VW building Tennessee rail terminal

Written by jrood

Chattanooga-made Volkswagens just off the assembly line and ready for shipment countrywide will start their journey at a state-of-the-art terminal unrivaled in the industry, a consultant told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The terminal will be served by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern.

"It will be a unique
facility once it’s completed and set a new standard," said John MacGregor,
president of TransDevelopment Group.

Called a finished vehicle
facility, it will make optimal use of dual railroad lines leading to the VW
plant site in addition to truck loading, he said. It’s estimated that 80
percent of vehicles made at the plant will leave by rail rather than truck, a
much higher percentage than is typical, MacGregor said.

City Engineer Bill Payne
said some $11 million in state funds are earmarked for the project, but it
could cost less.

Payne said TransDevelopment
has done similar work around the world for auto companies or suppliers and
railroads. Portland, Ore.-based TransDevelopment won a $38,750 contract from
the city’s Industrial Development Board to continue its consulting services for
the VW project.

"There’s quite a bit
of planning involved in this," said Ted Mills, the board’s chairman.

MacGregor said every new
auto assembly plant has a shipping terminal so cars can be delivered to
dealerships.

"The Chattanooga site
has a unique advantage in that it can be served by two different
railroads," MacGregor said. Both CSX and Norfolk Southern run lines to
Enterprise South industrial park. He said VW and the Hamilton County Railroad
Authority are making special plans to maximize each railroad line.

The Railroad Authority is
overseeing $6 million in separate rail improvements in what’s likely the biggest
rail overhaul in and around the former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant complex
at least since the Vietnam War and potentially World War II. That rail
infrastructure is publicly owned and will tie into the private carriers and
VW’s finished vehicle facility.

MacGregor said plans are
for rail to service not just the VW plant but other development in the area.

"It’s very much a
long-term vision by the HCRA and VW," he said.

VW’s $1 billion auto plant
will start production in early 2011. It will produce 150,000 vehicles a year
and employ more than 2,000 people, according to the German automaker.

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