On Friday, Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton announced that the Commonwealth was no longer going to consider the three proposals submitted to privatize the operations of the Port of Virginia. The three proposals were submitted by Centerpoint Properties, The Carlyle Group, and Goldman Sachs. Connaughton said that the the proposals significantly undervalued the operations of the port and were not reflective of the recent gains in traffic or the new lease of the APM terminal.

Given the economy and the recent APM transaction, this seems like a very reasonable way to proceed.  I know the Port will be uncovering various synergies withthe APM facility as they get further into its operations.  These will lead to operational improvements at 3 original terminals as well as the APM terminal.

The first train is about to make the run along the new Heartland Corridor and Norfolk Southern is celebrating by releasing the following music video. The Heartland Corridor will be a huge benefit for the Port of Virginia and will cut +/-250 miles of travel distance off the route to Chicago.