Development Plan for an Intermodal Facility in Columbus

The Challenge

CSX Intermodal Terminals Inc. is a subsidiary of CSX Transportation, the third biggest freight railway undertaking in the USA. The company operates about 40 terminals in the eastern part of the United States; one of these is located in Columbus, Ohio. In the light of the projected volume increase and the fact that the terminal would not be able to cover this with the existing layout, HPC prepared a development plan for the above mentioned terminal. Under this development plan, existing operations and future plans were analysed to set the right framework for the development of the new facilities. In the course of the project, different possible layout and configuration alternatives for the terminal were developed and evaluated. For the final layout alternatives, a detailed analysis and cost comparison was performed. Based on the findings of this project, CSX decided to invest in order to implement one of the layout alternatives developed by HPC.

Tasks Performed

• Analysis of CSX based volume and schedule forecast
• Analysis of existing terminal operations pattern
• Considerations on possible future terminal operations pattern
• Preliminary development of multiple design alternatives for the terminal
• Assessment of the most advantageous integration of the terminal into the CSX rail network
• Evaluation of different layout alternatives
• Elaboration of 2 final layouts to be evaluated in-depth
• In-depth evaluation of 2 final layouts, including all relevant operational and financial aspects

Benefit 

• Increasing handling capacity on an existing intermodal terminal while improving operational efficiency