John D. Boyd | Jun 06, 2011 10:34AM EDT
Eastern U.S. railroads CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway each planned to hold groundbreaking ceremonies Monday on separate intermodal hub construction projects.
CSX said it is “reinvesting more than $100 million to modernize and expand the existing intermodal terminal” in Worcester, Mass., in a project it said can position that city to become a major logistical hub for New England.
The plan will add 23 acres to CSX’s freight facilities there.
Norfolk Southern is breaking ground on a $97.5 million intermodal hub at McCalla, Ala., southwest of Birmingham. The hub is one of two in its big Crescent Corridor plan that won financial backing with a total of $105 million from a federal stimulus grant. The other is under way outside Memphis, Tenn., and NS is applying $52.5 million from the grant to each of those terminals.
The ceremony was first scheduled for April, but Alabama last month suffered from severe weather including tornadoes that devastated nearby Tuscaloosa. Senior state officials will be on hand as well as those from NS at the rescheduled event.
-- Contact John D. Boyd at jboyd@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @jboydjoc.