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rail & intermodal
Metro Atlanta Rail Map
Atlanta – Major Intermodal and Freight Rail hub
| Atlanta is often described as the largest inland port in the world. |
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Railroads have been central to the development
of Atlanta, as Margaret Mitchell
wrote in Gone with the Wind – “Born of a
railroad, Atlanta grew as its railroads grew.”
Atlanta was the birthplace in 1836 of the
Western and Atlantic line. Today, the W&A is
one of the most important and busiest lines
on CSX, carrying freight between Atlanta and
Chattanooga and serving as one of CSX seven
mainlines that converge in Atlanta.
Today, Atlanta is the rail center of the
South and has become one of the five most
important distribution centers in North
America. It possesses a critical combination
of transportation infrastructure and geography
that makes this city highly attractive for
business and commerce. When combined
with the powerful transportation elements of
interstate highways and unequalled air
service at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
International Airport, the metro Atlanta
region undoubtedly lives up to its reputation
as one of America’s greatest inland ports.
According to the Association of American
Railroads, Georgia has two Class 1 railroads,
16 local and 1 switching and terminal railroad.
The 4,900-mile network of main and
branch lines running throughout the state
connect in Atlanta. In the last year, 34.5
million tons of goods originated in Georgia,
and another 83 million tons terminated in
the state. With its superior rail, road and air
infrastructure, Atlanta continues to serve as a
major gateway to U.S. markets.
DIRECT SERVICE – FREIGHT
Described as the largest inland port in
the world, Atlanta has a long history as a
trade crossroads and its growth has been
linked to its role as a transportation and distribution
center. As a hub for container and
bulk distribution, Atlanta has doubled its
intermodal capabilities over the last several
years. CSX and Norfolk Southern are the
Class 1 railroad freight carriers serving
Georgia. With the 1988 federal designation
of the General Purpose Foreign Trade Zone
#26 in Atlanta, containers can travel
inbound from the coast to the U.S. Customs
office in Atlanta. Each line operates significant
intermodal facilities in Atlanta.
CSX
From the Atlanta metro area, CSX
Intermodal provides transportation service
access to the entire United States via the
CSX rail network. The CSX terminal in
Atlanta’s Hulsey Yard ranks 7th in terms of
freight volume for CSX – the largest intermodal
carrier in the U.S. Hulsey performed
more than 147,000 lifts in 2003 and is projected
to do more than 163,000 in 2004.
Hulsey handles more than 500 trucks and
16 trains per day while accommodating 180
flatcars at a time. CSX built a 24-hour terminal
in Fairburn that opened June 1999.
Fairburn performed more than 141,000 lifts
in 2003 and ranks as the 9th largest terminal
in terms of lift volume. It is projected to
do 139,000 lifts in 2004. Combined, the
terminals performed more than 288,000
lifts in 2003 and ranked as CSX’s 4th
largest operation in terms of lift volume,
bested only by Chicago, New York and
New Jersey. CSX has approximately 500
employees in metro Atlanta, and recently
added its consolidated training center
adjacent to Tilford yard. This facility is
expected to train more than 3,500
employees in 2005.
Products Handled: Coal, Automobiles,
Agricultural Products, Intermodal,
Chemicals, Paper, Other Merchandise
Atlanta Terminal key operations:
- Tilford Yard: built in 1957, one of CSX’s
major hump terminals handles more
than 40 trains per day.
- Howells Yard: an industrial serving yard
with 15 tracks, includes the Transflo
facility which receives bulk commodities
and transfers them to trucks for local
distribution. Serving yard for Georgia
Power Company’s McDonough-Atkinson
plant, which receives unit coal trains an
average of three times a week.
- Hulsey and Fairburn Intermodal Terminals: Hulsey Yard in downtown Atlanta and
Fairburn, south of the city, handle a
growing intermodal business. Intermodal
refers to containers or trailers on flat
cars, a service that combines truck-competitive
standards with rail economies.
Fairburn, works in conjunction with
Hulsey.
- Lawrenceville Automobile Distribution
Center: handles the transfer of finished
automobiles from rail multi-level carriers
to trucks.
Since 1987, CSX has doubled its
container throughput. It offers freight
service to more than 20 states, the
District of Columbia and Canada with over
42,700 miles of track.
For more information, contact CSX at
800-279-7245 or 800-874-8430. Web
address is www.csx.com. |
| Norfolk Southern
Years ago Southern Railway selected
Atlanta as its operations center and since
the 1982 creation of Norfolk Southern
(NS), the city has continued in that role.
Today Atlanta is a regional headquarters
for NS where key operating departments
track locomotives, manage car movements
system wide, oversee crew calling and
direct joint operations with other railroads.
In Atlanta, Norfolk Southern Railway’s
Inman Yard is the largest of the company’s
33 intermodal yards and includes the
nation’s first intermodal facility. Its East
Point Yard, in south Atlanta, is the largest
Road Railer hub in the world. Norfolk
Southern employs 2,600 in metro Atlanta
and 5,078 in the state of Georgia with a
payroll of $224 million. The company
operates on more than 18,000 miles of
track in 20 states.
Rail Volume
- NS handles one million railcar and intermodal
shipments to and from Atlanta
annually. At least two stack trains leave
Atlanta daily for the West Coast.
- 80-110 trains/day move through Atlanta
yards.
- Highest volume line: Chattanooga to
Jacksonville.
Products Handled: Vehicles and parts,
chemicals, intermodal, brick, pulpboard,
metals, coal and construction materials.
MAJOR YARDS AND OFFICES
- Atlanta Terminal: Inman Yard (intermodal and classification);
Austell (Whitaker Intermodal Terminal); Doraville Yard
(General Motors Corp.); Industry Yard (Ford Motor Co. and
Triple Crown Services)
- Downtown Spring Street Complex: 99 Spring St., 125 Spring
St., 175 Spring St., 185 Spring St., 1200 Peachtree St.,
N.E.
Key Operations
- National Customer Service Center: Handles more than 23,000
calls monthly
- Network Control Center: Oversees system wide regional and
division operations and is responsible for the assignment
and distribution of locomotive power
- Crew Management Center: Voice response units deliver
information to train crews, and the center handles more
than one million calls per month
- Centralized Yard Operations (CYO): Handles more than
79,000 calls monthly for equipment orders, demurrage
records, industry switching, basic tracing and car
movement reports
- Agency Operations Center (AOC): First point of contact for
customers when placing transportation orders. Prepares and
delivers work orders to train crews and creates waybills
- Car Management: Manages NS’s use of its car fleet as well
as other railroads’ cars
- Georgia Division Headquarters: From its Atlanta base, the
division stretches northwest to Chattanooga; east to
Augusta, GA, and along the coast to Savannah and
Brunswick, GA, and Jacksonville, FL, and west to
Columbus, GA
- Eastern/Western Regional Headquarters: General managers
direct Georgia, Piedmont, Virginia, Pocahontas, Alabama,
Central, Illinois and Lake divisions
For more information, contact Norfolk Southern at
800-635-5768 or visit www.nscorp.com
For more information on additional freight railroads
operating in Georgia, contact the Association of American
Railroads at 202-639-2326 or visit www.aar.org. |
| RAILWAY OFF-LINE OFFICES
Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway
www.bnsf.com
800-289-2673
CN North America
www.cn.ca
888-888-5909
CP Rail System
www.cpr.ca
800-716-9132
Florida East Coast Railway Co.
www.feci.com
800-342-11317
Kansas City Southern Lines
800-328-5507
Union Pacific Railroad Co.
www.uprr.com
800-848-5321
Click Image for Larger Map |
John W. Whitaker Intermodal Terminal
Austell, Georgia
Phone: 678-945-3501
NS Intermodal Web site www.nscorp.com/intermodal
NORFOLK SOUTHERN’S NEW INTERMODAL
TERMINAL SERVING THE ATLANTA MARKET:
- Largest intermodal facility east of the Mississippi River
- Southeastern hub of Norfolk Southern’s hub-and-spoke
intermodal network, complementing key intermodal facilities
at Rutherford Yard at Harrisburg, PA, and Chicago.
These three “backbone” hubs work in tandem to provide
efficient interchanges and seamless connections with
western carriers
- Handles a mix of international and domestic traffic,
primarily interline and transcontinental freight
- Completes Norfolk Southern’s Atlanta hub service for the
ports of Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Miami and
Jacksonville, FL
- Affirms Atlanta’s status as the Southeast’s preeminent transportation center
- Allows NS to offer customers a truck-competitive product
CAPACITY AND PARKING
- 450 Acres
- 4 loading/unloading tracks
- 20,000 Feet of Unloading Track
- 26,000 Feet of Support Track
- Runaround track approximately 2 miles long
- 3,200 Parking Spots
- 360 Spaces for container stacking
- 275,000/ Total lift Capacity
- 6 inbound/outbound lanes for trucks
OPERATIONS/CAPABILITIES
- 7 days a week/24 hours a day
- Trailer-on-Flat Car (TOFC)/Container-on-Flat Car
(COFC)/Stack Car
- Bottom and Top Lift
- EMP/NACS (48’ and 53’)
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