USA: State Governor Kay Ivey has announced the Alabama-USA Corridor, a proposed $231·6m programme of rail investment to provide improved intermodal transport inland from the port of Mobile to support economic development
‘It can provide options for freight containers to reach new destinations inland, which our country has struggled with during the supply chain crisis’, Ivey said on January 4. ‘I am proud our state is looking ahead and investing in the Alabama-USA Corridor and the future jobs and economic opportunity it will bring.’
The first phase of the programme is a $71·6m package of 12 track, signal and yard improvements on Norfolk Southern’s lines between the port of Mobile and the McCalla Intermodal Facility near Birmingham.
John C Driscoll, CEO of the Alabama Port Authority, said this would ‘bolster capacity, reliability and market access through the port of Mobile for regional supply chains’.
The 450 km corridor links economic development sites in Little Canoe Creek, Calera, Calver and McCalla, which will be made available for manufacturing, warehousing and distribution activities using funding from the Growing Alabama Tax Credit programme. Norfolk Southern is also providing $5·7m for improvements at Little Canoe Creek.
The sites are near major roads, but the governor said efficient intermodal rail infrastructure was necessary to meet the port’s rapid growth needs and the region’s economic expansion.
Norfolk Southern is to fund more than 50% of the A-USA Corridor project, with Alabama providing $5m and the remainder of the funding expected to come from current and future federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements grants.
‘The A-USA Corridor is an innovative public-private partnership that will strengthen the nation’s supply chain at a critical time and boost the regional economy’, said NS President Alan Shaw. ‘We look forward to working with Governor Ivey and the port of Mobile to make the A-USA Corridor an engine for job creation in Alabama for years to come.’
