CSX on Monday announced a $26 million track capacity expansion on its River Line between Albany N.Y. and northern New Jersey, enabling the railroad operator to handle more trains moving crude oil to East Coast refineries.

Demand for crude oil in New Jersey and the Philadelphia area "may be as much as five trains per day, or over 400,000 barrels, over the next couple of years," Oscar Munoz, executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. Much of the crude being produced in emergent Midwestern oil fields must move to markets by rail rather than pipeline.

The River Line is part of CSX's I-90 corridor that connects Chicago with New York, northern New Jersey, and the Philadelphia areas. It was formerly the backbone of the predecessor New York Central System.