A $3 million state grant to the Norfolk Southern Corporation will improve access to shipping for businesses in and around Great Bend, Pennsylvania officials and the railroad said this week.
The grant, part of over $18 million awarded by the state’s Passenger and Freight Rail Assistance Program, will go toward a new terminal on Montgomery Street in the city. The program offers state investment to support freight transportation and economic development, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.
“This grant will allow us to completely remove all debris(on the property), install a terminal building, install additional track for transloading goods, add lighting and security, and make the necessary investments” said James A. Squires, Chief Executive Officer of Norfolk Southern.
Norfolk Southern, based in Norfolk, Virginia, operates more than 21,500 miles of track in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Southeastern United States. It specializes in transporting feed, lumber, aggregate and other commodities, and connects with the Class 1 New York Susquehanna and Western at Binghamton, New York, about twenty miles from this facility.
Squires said the new terminal will provide “even further flexible access to rail so that current businesses will be more competitive in the marketplace, leading to growth, and provides the resources to attract new business that requires rail service to the region without limiting them to locating directly on a rail line or needing to install expensive infrastructure. It also helps the CSX customers who have been somewhat displaced over the last couple of months with the merger. With rail traffic at historical levels, this facility is important, and it is a unique idea.”
The railroad said the terminal will be completed by late Spring 2018.