Port of Virginia expands on-dock rail capacity in $83 million project

The Port of Virginia on Tuesday said its expanded central rail yard is fully operational, giving the port the capacity to process 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by rail annually.

Completion of the project gives the port an additional 455,000 TEUs of annual on-dock rail capacity, an increase of 31%, port-wide, port leaders said. The expansion also enhances the port’s reach to Midwestern population and manufacturing centers by train, since both of the East’s Class I rail carriers, Norfolk Southern and CSX, serve the port with regular, on- dock, double-stack service.

Construction of the $83 million project began in 2022 and was delivered on-time and on-budget; the investment is part of the port’s larger $1.4 billion Gateway Investment Program. The port also used a $20 million federal grant and a $20 million grant from the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation to build two new rail track bundles and purchase three all-electric cantilever rail- mounted gantry cranes.

“Our Gateway Investment Program includes delivery of the deeper, wider and safer 55-foot [deep] channel, the expansion of North NIT and the creation of the Portsmouth offshore wind hub,” Stephen Edwards, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, said in a release. “This additional rail capacity has been delivered on-time, in advance of the deeper channel and phase one of the North Berth expansion. Maintaining the construction schedule is important as we begin to message to the trade and talk about our expanded capabilities today, and what is coming in the very near future.”

The expansion follows similar approaches at other U.S. ports, including the completion last week of a $73 million rail expansion project on Pier 400 at the Port of Los Angeles, and ongoing work on a $127 million rail cargo facility at the Georgia Ports Authority.