The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) and BNSF Railway Co. (BNSF) recently partnered to develop a new rail hub at the Port of Tacoma.
The hub will meet increased intermodal demand in the greater Seattle region. It will accommodate more than 50,000 annual container lifts and will complement BNSF’s domestic intermodal facility in Tukwila that serves NWSA’s Seattle Harbor.
In March, BNSF and J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced a joint effort to substantially improve capacity in the intermodal marketplace. The Tacoma South facility is part of that effort.
“Growing the NWSA’s domestic intermodal volumes has long been a goal for the Seattle and Tacoma gateway,” Don Meyer, NWSA co-chairman and Port of Tacoma commissioner president, said. “The facility will increase job opportunities while reducing truck emissions associated with moving cargo to inland markets.”
BNSF and J.B. Hunt will launch a direct container-only joint service later this month between its Tacoma South facility and Chicago.
“The new Tacoma South facility builds upon our joint initiative with J.B. Hunt to substantially improve capacity in the intermodal marketplace while also meeting the expanding needs of our customers,” Tom Williams, BNSF group vice president of Consumer Products, said. “Our collaboration with the NWSA will help support greater warehousing and distribution needs in the fast-growing greater Seattle area.”