The expansion improves the port’s reach by train to “important Midwestern population and manufacturing centers,” Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director Stephen A. Edwards said during the ceremony to inaugurate the project. Also in attendance were Virginia Transportation Secretary W. Sheppard “Shep” Miller III, U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg, Maritime Administrator Rear Admiral (Ret.) Ann Philips, U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), and industry representatives (see photograph below).
The Virginia Port Authority, a political subdivision of the commonwealth of Virginia, owns and operates four general cargo facilities: Norfolk International Terminals (direct, on-dock access with Norfolk Southern, as well as intermodal access with CSX), Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal (direct, on-dock rail service from CSX with the ability to transfer with Norfolk Southern) and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County (see map below). It also leases Virginia International Gateway (offering nearly 20,000 linear feet of track with on-dock connections to Norfolk Southern and CSX) and Richmond Marine Terminal.
Construction on the central rail yard expansion began in 2022, and the project was delivered “on-time and on-budget,” according to The Port of Virginia. The port used a $20 million Port Infrastructure Development Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and a $20 million grant from the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation to build two new track bundles and purchase three all-electric cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes.
The investment is part of the port’s larger $1.4 billion Gateway Investment Program, which includes delivery of a 55-foot deep channel, the expansion of North NIT, and the creation of the Portsmouth offshore wind hub.
“Modernizing and expanding the capability at NIT’s central rail yard gives us additional rail capacity ahead of the completion of the first phase of expansion at NIT’s North Berth [in 2025],” Stephen Edwards said. “Cargo volumes coming to the U.S. East Coast are steadily increasing and moving the cargo to market by rail, over The Port of Virginia, is smart business.”
“We are proud to be a steward of this port modernization project, contributing a $20 million investment, which not only expands the NIT’s central rail yard, but serves to elevate the entire Port of Virginia as a critical hub for trade on the East Coast,” Polly Trottenberg said.
