After moving nearly 376,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) containers this August alone, and with more on the way, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has approved a $92 million project to double the Port of Savannah’s rail capacity.
To do so, they intend to build the Mason Mega Rail Terminal by 2020 — what will be the largest on-terminal rail facility on the continent. Such an endeavor will include 124,000 feet of new track, 88 automated switches and rail control devices and the rail and power infrastructure needed to support the rail-mounted gantry cranes which keep it all moving.
“It is no accident the GPA is constructing rail capacity as the demand for rail is growing,” GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood said. “As part of our strategic planning two years ago, our team identified the growing role intermodal cargo would play in GPA’s long-term success and put into place this plan for expansion.”
Rail capacity added by the project will allow 10,000-foot long unit trains to enter Garden City Terminal, bringing quicker and more frequent service. It will also expand the territory served by the Port of Savannah.