Cargo volume through the Port of Savannah is expected to receive a lift from a new intermodal rail facility to be built 570 km inland.
Plans for the USD24 million Appalachian Regional Port at Chatsworth, Georgia, were unveiled on 28 July by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), rail operator CSX, and the state of Georgia.
The GPA-operated facility has been conceived to expand imports and exports through the authority’s Garden City Terminal, the second biggest container port on the US East Coast.
“By providing a direct link to the Port of Savannah, the Appalachian Regional Port will create and expand international markets for businesses and further the economic success of the Southeastern US,” said Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.
The facility’s service area will include Alabama, North Georgia, Tennessee, and parts of Kentucky, according to port officials. It will convert an estimated 40,000 truck shipments over to intermodal rail.
The port is scheduled to open by 2018 with an annual capacity of 50,000 containers, which a 10-year development plan would then double.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.