CSX Transportation Inc. is suing Norfolk Southern Railway and the Chesapeake-based Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad, alleging that they have conspired to create a monopoly at Norfolk International Terminals by essentially boxing out CSX at the Port of Virginia’s largest container facility.
The case, filed in Norfolk federal court, also names as defendants three Norfolk Southern vice presidents and the president of the Belt Line. It weaves threads that include railroad history going back more than a century, port rail logistics and the competitive position of the Port of Virginia.
Norfolk Southern and the Belt Line declined to comment.
The Belt Line is a local “short line” railroad that operates more than 26 miles in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Chesapeake. It specializes in breaking down big freight trains and delivering, among other things, intermodal containers — the cargo-carrying boxes seen all over the region — to facilities around the port.
