THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504130421
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Norfolk Southern Corp. has signed a deal with a shipping company that will add $150 million during the next seven years to the railroad's revenues.
Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Norfolk Southern will handle all of Hanjin Shipping Co.'s container traffic east of the Mississippi River.
Hanjin, a South Korean shipping line, is the largest container ship operator on the largest container trade route across the Pacific Ocean.
The railroad will carry containers loaded with products manufactured in the Far East and shipped across the Pacific onHanjin ships to destinations along Norfolk Southern's rail network. Hanjin's business in the eastern United States has increased 57 percent in the past year.
``We're talking about traffic that could go anywhere on our East Coast intermodal system,'' railroad spokesman Robert Fort said.
Based in Norfolk, Norfolk Southern is the nation's fourth-largest railroad, with nearly 15,000 miles of track throughout the Southeast, Midwest and mid-Atlantic states.
The company has been increasing its intermodal business, which accounts for about 9 percent of Norfolk Southern's $4.6 billion in revenues for 1994. Intermodal shipping involves the use of containers that can be carried on and easily transferred between ships, rail cars or trucks.
Norfolk Southern will pick up Hanjin containers at a facility it will build near Chicago. Burlington Northern Railroad Co. will haul the containers from West Coast ports to Norfolk Southern in Chicago.
Norfolk Southern will invest $17 million to build a rail yard near Chicago, which will be dedicated to this new venture. The yard, which will be completed in October, will be adjacent to Norfolk Southern's Landers Yard near Chicago. The 33-acre facility will have storage space for about 800 containers.
Norfolk Southern will use its existing train service to move Hanjin containers. by CNB