Building the new facility would require roughly seven miles ofnew track. The airport would finance the project and then lease itback to Norfolk Southern, with no money coming from taxpayers.

Charlotte has long been one of the premier distribution centerson the Eastern Seaboard. A new intermodal terminal would likelyincrease Charlotte's prestige and prominence in the distributionbusiness, industry sources say in published reports. Should theplan jell, Charlotte/Douglas would become a major hub in aSoutheastern transportation center. The terminal would provideaccess to a major airport, three interstates and main-line railservice. There would also be rail service to Charleston, SC, one ofthe top three container ports on the East Coast.

Norfolk Southern currently has an intermodal yard off NorthTryon Street, a site that can't be expanded. This yard is too smallto handle the freight and traffic that Norfolk Southern would liketo move through Charlotte. Jerry Orr, the airport's aviationdirector, says in a published report, the new terminal would meanthat one location could offer all four modes of transportation.That would be attractive to high-tech manufacturing which reliesheavily on fast transportation and quick access to majormarkets.