Port authority OKs Jersey City intermodal terminal

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has set Greenville Yard terminal to be its fourth ExpressRail terminal.    The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said its board of commissioners today approved a major redevelopment of Greenville Yard in Jersey City that will include a new ExpressRail facility — the fourth of its type to be built by the agency.
   The Greenville Yard will support the adjacent Global Marine Terminal. This will allow the terminal to ship and receive containerized cargo by rail, a capability that it lacks today. The facility will have an initial capacity of at least 125,000 cargo container lifts a year, and it is expected to be operational on or about July 2016.   
   The total cost of the program is approximately $356 million, of which the Port Authority will contribute approximately $320 million; approximately $36 million will be contributed by third-party stakeholders. Of the $320 million in Port Authority funding, approximately $234 million will be reimbursed through a combination of federally earmarked funds, grants and the Port Authority’s Cargo Facility Charge. Under the board’s action, the project is conditioned on the continued availability of the Cargo Facility Charge, which is used to pay for the costs of certain road, rail and common infrastructure improvements. The charge is being challenged at the Federal Maritime Commission.
   There are similar ExpressRail facilities for container terminals in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J., and on Staten Island, N.Y.
   The board also approved a series of improvements to the cross-harbor car float system operated by NY-NJ Rail that moves freight more efficiently by both water and rail (as opposed to truck) between New Jersey and markets east of the Hudson River, including New York City and Long Island.
   Cargo coming on and off the Global Terminal today is transported to and from its final destination primarily by truck. The new facility will allow for transloading of containerized cargo from ship to rail,  which the port authority said offers ocean carriers and their customers “a more efficient and environmentally-friendly option for goods movement.”
   In addition, the program also calls for an upgrade to the NY-NJ Rail operation, which is owned by the Port Authority and operates the last cross-harbor barge or “carfloat” system on the Hudson River. Under the system, freight is loaded on rail cars and the cars are moved by marine rail barge from Greenville to rail yards at 51st Street and 65th Street in Brooklyn, N.Y. Cargo delivered to Brooklyn is either delivered to local customers or handed over to another railroad to reach its final destination.
   The new ExpressRail Port Jersey includes the construction of approximately 10,000 feet of working track, 32,000 feet of support track, and switches and infrastructure to support rail-mounted gantry cranes at the facility.
   The upgrades to the New York-New Jersey carfloat system include construction of up to two new transfer bridges at Greenville, and related lead and support tracks; the purchase of two larger carfloats, each with the capability of transporting 18 rail cars; and the purchase of up to four new, ultra low-emission locomotives to replace existing ones that have outlived their useful lives.