Intermodal Facilities
The Memphis MSA can tap into rail service from five major Class I rail systems through upgraded intermodal yards from Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (“BNSF”), Norfolk Southern (“NS”), and Canadian National Railway Company (“CN”). Rossville, Tennessee is home to a relatively new intermodal facility  servicing an important junction of east-west and north-south rail routes. From Memphis, 132 metro markets, or 60% of the U.S. population, can be reached via overnight rail shipment. 

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This new intermodal facility expanded NS’s network across 13 states, spanning from New York to Louisiana joining the Southwest to the eastern half of the United States in what the railroad calls the Crescent Corridor. With expected completion in 2020 at a cost of $2.5 billion, the Crescent Corridor will provide a port-to-port 2,500-mile rail network parallel to interstate highways; expanded terminals in 11 markets, including Memphis; and faster access to longer distances than conventional trucking. In Mississippi and Tennessee alone, over one million trucks will be diverted from congested highways to rail annually, as each train loads the equivalent of 280 trucks. The expanded intermodal facility in Memphis alone will generate over $100 million in congestion savings annually. Reduced congestion on the highways equals faster distribution times.