The Franklin County regional intermodal facility will serve to advance the company’s multi-state rail infrastructure initiative to link southeastern US with the northeastern states.

It is situated on 200 acres near Greencastle and will connect central Pennsylvania with western Maryland and northern Virginia for domestic and international markets.

The property, which also neighbors major vehicle thoroughfare Interstate 81, will add 126 new jobs.

The facility is a partnership of public and private entities that involved $52 million in internal funding as well as a $45 million Pennsylvania state investment.

NS’ Crescent Corridor series of projects is a 2500-mile network of rail and terminals helping to moderate truck traffic on congested roadways and reduce carbon emissions.

“The Crescent Corridor provides tremendous public benefits such as job creation, reduced long-haul truck traffic and a cleaner, more efficient way to move freight,” Norfolk Southern chief executive officer Wick Moorman said.

“Opening the Franklin County facility marks a major milestone in this effort.”

The terminal will be a major gateway for freight in the mid-Atlantic region and Norfolk Southern officials project that, combined with other NS terminals in the state, it will divert as many as 800,000 long-haul trucks by 2020.

The Franklin County regional intermodal facility is the third Crescent Corridor intermodal terminal NS has opened since the middle of last year.

Its other newly minted locations including Birmingham in Alabama and Memphis in Tennessee, which both started operations within the last six months.

Construction of a fourth Crescent Corridor-related intermodal terminal in Charlotte in North Carolina is underway.

Norfolk Southern’s network includes 20,000 route miles in 22 US states and the District of Columbia. It serves every major eastern US port.