THE ROANOKE REGION OF VIRGINIA

RADFORD -- After three years of engineering and work, the first train to travel the Heartland Corridor through Southwest Virginia stopped shortly before noon today for a celebration and ribbon-cutting.

The first train to ride the route left the Port of Hampton Roads on its way to Columbus, Ohio, and Chicago with both domestic and imported goods.

At Radford, the 140-box train parked outside a Norfolk Southern Corp. celebration attended by dozens of transportation, state and railroad officials.

The Heartland Corridor project is an effort to increase intermodal freight capacity by raising clearances in 28 tunnels on a NS line. The first phase of the tunnel work began in October 2007. Using the corridor, trains will be able to shave off about 200 miles and up to a day’s transit time between the East Coast and the Midwest. Currently, double-stack trains must take routes by way of Harrisburg, Pa., or Knoxville, Tenn.