Camp Hall railway finished by end of summer

By Matt Bise, Reporter  – The Berkeley Independent

Starting back in 2022, The Camp Hall Industrial Park and its biggest tenant, Volvo, sought to connect to the port and the larger railway system.

So the S.C. Commerce Department included an incentive plan to build 25 miles of track through wetlands, woodlands and some rural neighborhoods in Berkeley County.

The $190-million project runs from Ridgeville to Cross and includes a canal bridge that is almost done.

Palmetto Railway, a division of the state commerce department, reports that the project is 75 percent finished with the remaining portioning being a strait shot through Cross that will go quickly. There, the track will connect to the main line with CSX.

“We are anticipating being completed by the end of summer. I can go ahead and say August of this year,” said Patrick McCrory, president and CEO of Palmetto Railways. “We’re at the phase where the last 25% will move very fast.”

At first, the railway will serve Volvo hauling new vehicles from the 63,000-acre Camp Hall site to the railroad network and to the Port of Charleston. But  tenants like lithium battery manufacturer Redwood Materials, who broke ground at Camp Hall in 2022, will also reap the rewards and so will future business.

The modern Palmetto Railway was started in 1966 following legislation to allow a railway system called the South Carolina Public Railways Commission. The non-contiguous railway division has track in North Charleston, Charleston, as well as Hampton and Colleton counties. But they are nothing like the Camp Hall line.

“This is the largest endeavor this company or this entity of the state has completed in its history,” McCrory mentioned. “Since we started design and began construction, it’s been a very seamless project. We’ve worked through any issues we’ve had, and none of have been dramatic.”

When completed, the line will run north and south moving the freight from Ridgeville up to Cross and back again.

“It will serve the existing Volvo Cars facility that is operating today,” said McCrory. “For the foreseeable future, we won’t see more than one train. There will be minimum volume to start, but it will climb as it grows.”

Camp Hall broke ground in the summer of 2018, dubbed as a next-generation commerce park unlike any other in South Carolina. Commerce officials said at the time that Camp Hall will help industry recruit and retain employees with its modern campus. Volvo had already set up shop, arriving in 2015.

In an emailed response, about the completion, a spokesperson from Volvo Cars in Ridgeville said, “The addition of a rail line will be a great benefit to Camp Hall and industries in the surrounding area in the future. This project represents a key advancement for industrial transportation capabilities, streamlining logistics and promoting economic growth.”