CSX, North Carolina to build scaled-back intermodal facility

Eastern railroad CSX Corp. and the North Carolina Department of Transportation will build an intermodal facility in Edgecombe County in the eastern part of the state, the railroad and state officials said late yesterday.

The $160 million terminal will be constructed on the same property where the railroad and the state had planned to build a larger intermodal facility, according to a CSX spokeswoman. Those plans, which called for CSX and the state to spend $272 million to build a hub-and-spoke terminal to serve as the railroad's Southeast hub, were scuttled by then-CEO E. Hunter Harrison in November 2017. Harrison died the following month.

Since late 2017, North Carolina officials have remained in contact with CSX to ensure that the site remained in consideration for development, the state said.

North Carolina's Department of Transportation will contribute $118.1 million to develop the new facility and build adjacent roadways, with CSX kicking in the balance. The facility will keep the original name of the "Carolina Connector," and will be built on CSX's main line. CSX will run the facility.

The project, which will be built on 330 acres and function as a traditional intermodal site rather than as a hub-and-spoke operation, is expected to be completed sometime in 2020, the state said.