Norfolk Southern and CSX recently completed the final phase of the 14th Street junction project in Birmingham, Ala., in only 48 hours. The railroads replaced outdated turnouts, signals and track panels.
The project will triple Norfolk Southern’s train speeds and streamline daily movement for 70 trains. It also will reduce traffic congestion in the surrounding community.
“It took strong partnership and clear coordination to deliver a solution that benefits the region and both railroads,” Jared Hopewell, Norfolk Southern assistant vice president of communications and signals – engineering, said. “This project strengthens our network, improves performance, and creates lasting value for the communities and customers we serve.”
The corridor is a high-traffic location whose old components affected reliability. Replacing the components was in discussion for more than 10 years. The process was lengthy because of
project complexity, and the coordination and alignment needed to find the best solution.
The project was completed in five phases, each with the goal of reducing operational impact on the heavy-tonnage lines of both railroads.
Phase five was completed in two days and included 140 workers from both railroads. Workers installed 13 new signals, 17 new switches and more than 300 feet of track panels, and retired six movable-point frogs that were replaced with standard turnouts.