NEW YORK-NEW JERSEY SHIP-TO-RAIL FACILITY LAYS FIRST TRACKS

NEW YORK-NEW JERSEY SHIP-TO-RAIL FACILITY LAYS FIRST TRACKS    The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Thursday the first tracks have been laid for Express Rail II, a $70 million, on-dock rail terminal at the Elizabeth-Port Authority Marine Terminal in Port Elizabeth, N.J.
   The new rail facility terminal is on a 70-acre site that straddles the reconfigured Maher and APM terminals. The first 50 acres will open in the first quarter of 2004, and the final phase of the larger facility’s construction will be completed by the end of 2005. The second phase is being built under a separate port authority contract.
   The initial work under way includes a rail overpass and initial trackage that “will allow uninterrupted rail access to the terminal and remove conflicts with truck traffic,” the port authority said in a statement.
   Currently, 13 percent of freight passing through Port Elizabeth goes by rail. The Port Authority expects that volume to increase to 25 percent when the ship-to-rail facility is completed.