The Georgia Ports Authority has officially opened an inland rail hub it estimates will take 26,000 truckloads of freight off highways annually.
The Gainesville Inland Port opened May 4, with direct rail service provided by Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) five days a week between northeast Georgia and the Port of Savannah.
The authority in a release said that the new service gives shippers an alternative to a 600-mile roundtrip truck route, and will reduce truck traffic in the Atlanta region and wider state highway system.
At full build-out, the $134 million former Blue Ridge Connector will have an annual capacity of 200,000 containers.
Gainesville is the latest inland port to open on the East Coast. It joins the Virginia Inland Port serving the Port of Virginia; and South Carolina’s Greer and Dillon handling traffic out of the Port of Charleston.
“Our new inland rail facility in Gainesville, Georgia, will significantly offset truck traffic congestion in Atlanta and improve air quality by replacing an estimated 26,000 truck roundtrips in the first year alone. We’re already seeing positive customer engagement and Norfolk Southern will bring an excellent level of service working together with GPA,” said Georgia Ports President and Chief Executive Griff Lynch at the March GPA board meeting.
The authority also funded $4.8 million for county projects to mitigate the facility’s impact on local communities. Those included the elimination of a rail grade crossing, and rerouting of a key access road.
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Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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