BNSF aims to help shippers find shovel-ready industrial properties

The BNSF Site Certification program is designed to accelerate development of land along the railroad’s network and increase its customer base.    BNSF Railway has created a new program to help shippers identify rail-served industrial sites on its network that are ready for quick development.
   The company said last week that its Site Certification program pre-vets potential manufacturing and distribution sites by following a 10-point checklist, including the availability of utilities, highway access, proper zoning, verified property boundaries and environmental restrictions. The goal is to minimize development risks customers may face.
   BNSF also announced its first list of Certified Sites. The railroad said logistics centers in Shafter, Calif.; Newton, Kan.; Shelby, Mont.; and Temple, Texas, are at an advanced stage of readiness for commercial development projects. BNSF is actively marketing the sites on its website and said it will promote them to industrial developers across the country.
     • Located 150 miles north of the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach, Paramount Logistics Park is a 1,625-acre park in Shafter, Calif., that includes a rail terminal with 17,500 feet of track and a switching locomotive.
     • Kansas Logistics Park, north of Witchita, offers two 42-acre parcels for industrial development in Newton, Kan., and provides rail access to BNSF via the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad and offers direct access to Interstate 135 and State Highway 50.
     • Located 30 miles south of the Canadian border and 80 miles east of Glacier National Park, the Port of Northern Montana Multimodal Hub Center in Shelby, Mont., offers a 93-acre site with direct access to BNSF and offers access to Interstate Highway 15 and U.S. Highway 2.
     • The Rail Park at Central Pointe is a 306-acre industrial site in Temple, Texas, about 125 miles south of Fort Worth. It has approximately 10 miles of track switched by the Temple & Central Texas Railway, which connects directly to BNSF and offers direct access to Interstate 35.
   A customer who builds a new rail-served facility on a BNSF Certified Site is expected to save between six to nine months of construction time as a result of the site’s advanced level of preparedness for development, the railroad said. To be considered as a certified site, industrial sites agree to submit documentation that allows BNSF to look at tangible evidence of a commitment by the owner and the community to develop a high-quality industrial park or site that is strongly supported by a public-private collaboration and existing investments. BNSF’s certification is expected to generate economic development for the industrial sites and their communities.
   BNSF’s program is similar to one that eastern counterpart CSX has had in place for several years.