10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

Gate getting closer to opening on new intermodal facility

PRICHARD, W.Va. — A new transfer point for freight is about 50 percent completed in Wayne County.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, Third District Congressman Nick Rahall and other state dignitaries got a look at the progress of the state’s new Heartland Intermodal Gateway. The project will create a point to offload freight from truck to train or vice-versa for export overseas or to other parts of the country.

“The Prichard facility is strategically located about 12 hours from Norfolk and 12 hours from Chicago,” said Public Port Authority Director Neal Vance. “It’s about halfway and that could be crucial along those shipping lines.”

The nearest facility of its kind is in Columbus, Ohio. Vance believes business and industry within a 100-mile radius will be able to use the Prichard site and see significant cost savings in their shipping expense.

“We have just now started targeting companies, but we have been having discussions with quite a few and there have been quite a few who have been contacting us,” Vance said. “They are interested in what services this facility will bring to their company and how much it will save on their costs. All of these will be business decisions.”

The target date for completion is Dec. 2015. The facility is being built with federal grant and state rail maintenance money. Eventually it will be operated by a private operator in a public-private partnership. The state will derive revenue from the facility through either a flat fee or a per drop fee with the private operator.





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