CP to lease 90-acre Ohio intermodal facility

A farm consortium consisting of short-line and regional railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and Bluegrass Farms of Ohio will continue to own the facility and will operate it on behalf of Calgary-based Class I railroad Canadian Pacific.    Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has reached an exclusive agreement with a farm consortium to use a 90-acre intermodal facility in Jeffersonville, Ohio, the Calgary-based Class I railroad said in a statement.
   The facility is located on the I-71 corridor, and has the ability to open up the Ohio Valley to CP customers through service to the Ohio cities of Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton, CP said.
   The farm consortium, consisting of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. and Bluegrass Farms of Ohio will continue to own the facility and will operate it on behalf of CP. G&W services the site through its Indiana & Ohio Railway (IORY) line.
   “[W]e are expanding our reach and increasing optionality for our customers,” CP President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Creel said of the agreement. “This service allows our international intermodal customers to come through the Port of Vancouver and access markets deep in the Ohio Valley.
   “The unique site also creates better round trip economics for our customers by enabling the empty containers to be re-loaded with agriculture products and shipped back overseas,” Creel explained.
   CP said the secure site offers it and G&W a ready-made intermodal facility on the IORY line that can accommodate intermodal and bulk shipments, as well as provide transloading services of bulk agricultural products into containers. The location also features “extensive” container and trailer storage, and has the ability to grow with current and future customers, CP said.
   G&W Chairman, President and CEO Jack Hellmann called the partnership “an excellent example” of how short-line railroads can extend the reach of the Class I network.
   “This intermodal terminal not only offers a new rail option to and from the Ohio Valley, but was purpose built to provide backhaul opportunities that will enable customers to reduce overall transportation costs and enhance their competitive advantage,” Hellmann explained.
   “We…have always believed that this is the perfect site to not only reach into the Ohio Valley with imports, but to deliver high-quality, sustainable agricultural products back on the export side,” Bluegrass Farms of Ohio President Dave Martin said in a statement.
   The new service leverages the company’s live-lift operation at Portal, N.D. and its daily service between Vancouver and Chicago.
   CP said it’s also expanding its sales and marketing presence in Asia, with key positions being added in China and Singapore, but did not give any specific details as to what those positions are and where exactly they will be located.
   “We are putting more dots on the map, expanding our reach and working with current and potential customers to sustainably grow our business and theirs,” Creel said.