Looking to cut down on truck mileage on highways and better support local logistics, Georgia has opened a new inland terminal in its northwest territory, known as the Appalachian Regional Port (ARP).
The ARP will support customers in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, giving them access to an intermodal rail service that will ferry cargo to and from the Savannah container port. That rail will be run by CSX. It will handle both import and export containers, and span the 388 miles from the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal.
“The Appalachian Regional Port is a powerful new gateway to the Port of Savannah that extends the efficiencies of Georgia’s superior port operations to new markets,” Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal said. “It will also serve as an economic development magnet, drawing business and industry to the Southeast U.S.”
The governor pointed to such efforts as clear evidence of investment in rural Georgia and its potential in the state’s economics. As of now, the Murray County site will be operated by three electric rubber-tired gantry cranes across 42 acres adjacent to U.S. 411. It also has room to grow into.
“Murray County features 16 sites offering more than 1,500 acres of developable land, most of which can support multiple developments,” Illya Copeland, executive director of the Murray County Industrial Development Authority (IDA), said. “Of the 1,500 acres, 258 acres are rail-front property.”