L&C Railroad

Lancaster County, South Carolina makes it easier for companies to reach out and touch every corner of their worlds thanks to extensive transportation connectivity. Start with our primary divided highway, four lane U.S. 521, which bisects our county on its 200-mile route from Charlotte to the Atlantic Ocean in Georgetown, SC and gives you fast access to Charlotte’s I-485 loop which links to I-77 and I-85. From the southern part of Lancaster County, access to Columbia, I-20, I-26, and I-77 is less than an hour away.

Traveling and shipping by air is easy, too, with nearby Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s (KCLT) daily nonstop service to 150 international and domestic destinations. The airport’s Air Cargo Center offers 570,000 square feet of facilities and 50+ acres of ramp space, with service from more than 15 international and domestic carriers. The airport also has a unique rail/truck intermodal facility. Corporate jets are welcome at Lancaster County Airport (KLKR), with a 6,000-foot runway, instrument approaches, and FBO and 24/7 fuel service.

Companies that need rail access will appreciate the responsive daily service of the Lancaster & Chester Railroad, a 90-mile dual-service short line with connections to CSX and Norfolk Southern mainlines that has served our communities for over a century. Those mainline links offer access to ocean ports in Charleston and in Savannah, Georgia, as well as to Charlotte airport’s air cargo and intermodal facilities. The L&C also has three transload facilities.

Lancaster County is remarkably close to ocean shipping, with four ports within 205 miles. The Port of Charleston, South Carolina, being the busiest container port on the southeast and Gulf coasts, handles nearly 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually, with five public terminals, post-Panamax cranes, and service from CSX and Norfolk Southern. Inland Port Greer is an extension served by Norfolk Southern that boosts efficiency for international freight movements between the Port of Charleston and companies in our area. The Port of Georgetown, South Carolina, is a non-container port handling bulk and breakbulk cargo with CSX service. Finally, Georgia’s Port of Savannah is America’s largest single container terminal, serving post-Panamax vessels, with access from both CSX and Norfolk Southern.