32nd ANNUAL INTERMODALISM SPECIAL - Rickenbacker offers intermodal advantages for logistics and distributionBy Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTLogistics activities in the Columbus, Ohio area are increasing dramatically thanks to the 15,000-acre multi-modal transportation and logistics center at Rickenbacker International Airport. Included in that center is the Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal and the Rickenbacker Global Logistics Park. Robin Holderman, vice president, Real Estate at Columbus Regional Airport Authority, describes the project as akin to the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas near Dallas, Texas. Rickenbacker offers three transportation options to shippers: air, road, and rail. The new 300-acre intermodal facility South of Rickenbacker International Airport is currently under construction. According to Holderman, Phase I of the intermodal terminal should be completed by November this year with the entire project finished by Second Quarter 2008—possibly in April. Developing a new rail/truck intermodal facility at Rickenbacker is vital to Central Ohio remaining an advanced logistics center and a key player in global trade. The facility will be used for the interchange of shipping containers between trains and trucks. Norfolk Southern is building a $63 million, 175-acre intermodal rail yard at the terminal. When completed the terminal itself will have a capacity for 450,000 lifts per year. “That’s three times Norfolk Southern’s existing capacity at its current terminal at Discovery Park,” Holderman states. “It will be the largest intermodal terminal East of Chicago.” Existing facilities are utilized to the fullest extent and the Rickenbacker area’s current intermodal facility, Discovery Park, has long surpassed capacity. Norfolk Southern, which currently operates at capacity with about 150,000 lifts per year, has seen an approximate 15% increase in demand for intermodal services year-over-year for the past several years. In 2002, Discovery Park was already handling nearly 140,000 container lifts per year—well beyond the capacity of its infrastructure, which can efficiently handle 125,000 annual lifts. With expansion opportunities at Discovery Park limited, Norfolk Southern is unable to serve the market’s demand for rail intermodal transportation from that location and is turning away business from the Central Ohio region. When the demand for intermodal services exceeds capacity, local customers are unable to benefit from lower shipping costs. This, in turn, can diminish Central Ohio’s competitive economic advantage. Consequently, the new facility is imperative, especially given estimates that project a volume of 243,000 annual lifts by 2015. Heartland CorridorThe terminal particularly is a prominent component of the Heartland Corridor that is underway to improve intermodal links between Columbus, Ohio and the ports in the Norfolk area, including the new Maersk Line terminal. Key to the $200 million project, which is expected to be completed around 2010, is the raising of tunnel roofs or lowering of tunnel beds, and the clearing of 32 tunnels. “Only four of these are in Ohio,” comments Holderman. “The other 28 are in West Virginia and Virginia.” The Heartland Corridor project is imperative to accommodate double-stack rail operated by Norfolk Southern. This 1,100-mile stretch of rail will allow double-stacked, international maritime and domestic containers to be transported by rail between Virginia, West Virginia and through to Columbus, Ohio. In Columbus, the Heartland Corridor trains will link up with the existing Norfolk Southern network that currently transports double-stacked containers through to Chicago. The more direct Heartland Corridor will cut 250 miles and one day of transit time between Virginia and Chicago. The Corridor is especially important for goods coming into the Port of Virginia from China destined for Midwest markets. The Intermodal Facility will provide a direct link for international freight to the deep-water por