In 2015, CSX worked with its customers to locate 107 new plants or expanded facilities on its rail network or its connecting short line partners, the railroad announced Jan. 7, 2016. These new projects comprise $2.2 billion in customer investments and are expected to generate approximately 1,500 new jobs in areas served by CSX.
“Strong customer investment activity in 2015 was driven by downstream energy projects spurred by low oil and gas prices, as well as a significant number of industrial and agricultural projects, which highlights the strength of CSX’s diverse business mix,” said Clark Robertson, Assistant Vice President, Regional Development. “In addition to our own efforts to generate new business, our network touches some of the most competitive economic development areas in the United States, and we are grateful for the pivotal role that state and local economic development agencies play in aggressively competing for new industry. We appreciate and applaud their work to create new opportunities for their citizens.”
Once these facilities are fully operational, they are projected to generate more than 143,000 new annual carloads of business for CSX. In addition to these projects that will be built over the next several years, in 2015 more than 75 customer facilities located on CSX began operations.
Since 2000, CSX customers have invested more than $42 billion in rail-served facilities, creating more than 62,000 jobs across the company’s 23-state network. To support rail-oriented industrial development, CSX’s Select Site program pre-certifies properties that are suitable for manufacturing use. These sites meet rigorous criteria to increase development probability and reduce time and costs for CSX customers. Customers considering a new or expanded location can learn more about CSX Select Sites at http://www.csxselectsite.com or at www.csxindustrialdevelopment.com.
CSX provides service via an extensive network that connects customers to nearly two-thirds of the nation’s population throughout the major East Coast and Midwestern metropolitan centers, and serves more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports. CSX can move a ton of freight nearly 450 miles on a single gallon of fuel and one train can carry the load of 280 trucks, reducing carbon emissions and wear and tear on public roads, the railroad says.