Intermodal services to Virginia port delayed, cut after barge hits bridge

[NS Newsfeed]

The Port of Virginia's efforts to curb congestion took a literal hit Sunday morning after a barge struck a rail bridge, forcing Norfolk Southern Railway to delay five intermodal services and end two.



According to the railroad, a barge on the Elizabeth River struck an NS railroad bridge, knocking it out of alignment and blocking the route into and out of the Norfolk's intermodal facility and Norfolk International Terminals.



At least two outbound trains were cancelled as a result: one en route from Norfolk to Chicago and another from Norfolk to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At least five inbound trains were also been delayed by the incident: two en route from Louisville, Kentucky, two others from Chicago and a fifth from Columbus, Ohio.



"While there is no firm ETA for completion of repairs at this time, the bridge is expected to remain out of service at least until late tomorrow evening," NS said in a statement Sunday.



Since February, the Port of Virginia has struggled with on-again-off-again congestion.



Trouble started in mid-February after the port was forced to shut down for four consecutive days due to extreme winter weather. For more than a week, the Virginia Port Authority put a hold on all eastbound intermodal traffic.



Since then, truck gates and rail lines have opened back up, but the port was faced with mounting backlogs, hours-long wait times for trucks and near-unprecedented rail congestion.



The Virginia Port Authority has since released a laundry list of changes to mitigate the impact on productivity. In the past month, the list has grown longer and longer and now runs the gamut from weekend gate hours to barge service between terminals to cut down on drayage.



The port authority was not immediately available for comment Monday.

[TheVARailFan]

Yeah, it was bad, 233, 227, 22A, and 29G were all cancelled for two days, two 23G's, two 234's, and a 236 were also held enroute, created a backup on the district as several trains were already out of Crewe when the bridge went down and had to be held in the swamp. Only thing that went over the bridge was Amtrak and that was under a 5mph restriction with three track gangs watching every inch of the bridge. Currently there is a 10mph restriction over the bridge and a MoW crew working around-the-clock to try and fix her, talking about pulling her out of service for a much needed overhaul like they did with Bridge 5, but they don't have the trackage rights over CSXT's Portsmouth Sub.