{"id":177382,"date":"2025-02-19T00:39:28","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T14:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/?p=69496"},"modified":"2025-02-19T00:39:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T14:39:28","slug":"baltimore-digs-deeper-for-double-stack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=177382","title":{"rendered":"Baltimore digs deeper for double stack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>A famous constraint on the US rail network is being relieved. Work has begun on Baltimore\u2019s Howard Street Tunnel. The restricted loading gauge structure cannot accept double-stack intermodal trains. That is about to change.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span id=\"more-69496\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Class 1 freight railroad operator CSX has closed Baltimore\u2019s historic Howard Street Tunnel for reconstruction, aiming to modernise the 8,700-foot (2650m) tunnel and enable double-stack intermodal service along the I-95 Rail Corridor &#8211; incongruously named after the East Coast interstate highway it parallels.<\/p>\n<h2>Infrastructure responsibilities<\/h2>\n<p>After extensive preparations, capital works have been underway for just over two weeks. The first rail spikes were removed on Saturday, 1 February, with the first track sections lifted out shortly afterwards. By lowering the floor of the tunnel, the project will increase vertical clearance in the tunnel.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-container\" style=\"box-sizing:border-box;height:0;overflow:hidden;padding-bottom:56.25%;position:relative;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-content\" style=\"bottom:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;right:0;top:0;width:100%;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1053204962?h=ac0b89f024\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen scrolling=\"no\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; fullscreen; gyroscope\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The work on the Howard Street tunnel itself is part of a wider &#8220;Howard Street Tunnel Project&#8221; that has been underway since November 2021. It includes addressing 22 obstructions along the corridor between Baltimore and Philadelphia. The whole project is a public-private construction partnership that is being funded by CSX and grants from the US Federal Railroad Administration, the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and the City of Baltimore.<\/p>\n<h2>Starting something big<\/h2>\n<p>Resolving the longstanding issue of the tunnel clearance is expected to help Baltimore develop as an intermodal gateway to Midwest markets.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-69498 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/CSX-on-railroad-crossing-CSX-480x275.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/CSX-on-railroad-crossing-CSX-480x275.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/CSX-on-railroad-crossing-CSX-208x119.jpg 208w, https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/CSX-on-railroad-crossing-CSX.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fewer of these at crossings in Baltimore once the Howard Street Tunnel reopens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As reported last year by WorldCargo News, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/news\/2024\/10\/baltimore-gets-double-stack-rail\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">Baltimore is already gearing up for double-stack<\/a> operations through the city centre. \u201cThis is a tremendous opportunity to alleviate a restriction on our network and open up new opportunities for CSX,\u201d said Ed Sparks, CSX chief engineer of bridge design and construction. \u201cWe\u2019re starting something big.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Better port connections<\/h2>\n<p>Allowing double-stack intermodal trains to travel more directly through Baltimore will boost more than the local economy. The city and the region are still living with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/news\/2024\/03\/francis-scott-key-bridge-in-baltimore-collapses-after-containership-strike\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge<\/a> on 26 March last year, after being struck by a container vessel. The Howard Street Tunnel upgrades will, among other benefits, better connect the Seagirt Marine Terminal Intermodal Container Transfer Facility at the Port of Baltimore with interior distribution hubs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt strengthens the Port of Baltimore\u2019s competitiveness with other East Coast ports,\u201d said Brandon Knapp, CSX senior director of Mid-Atlantic construction. \u201cThis project benefits CSX while also boosting the region\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A famous constraint on the US rail network is being relieved. Work has begun on Baltimore\u2019s Howard Street Tunnel. The restricted loading gauge structure cannot accept double-stack intermodal trains. That is about to change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":69498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12818,15434,36,13956,15435,15436,15437,65,1732,15438,12154],"tags":[12159],"class_list":["post-177382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baltimore","category-brandon-knapp","category-csx","category-double-stack","category-ed-sparks","category-howard-street-tunnel-project","category-i-95-rail-corridor","category-intermodal","category-multimodal","category-seagirt-marine-terminal","category-shipping-logistics","tag-world-cargo-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=177382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177599,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177382\/revisions\/177599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=177382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=177382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=177382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}