Port of NY/NJ sees growth in container rail traffic

   The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the ExpressRail system that serves its marine terminals handled 228,298 containers in the first six months of the year, 10 percent more than in the first half of 2011.
   Rail volume grew much more quickly than container volume at the port which was 1,583,709 containers in the first six months, 1.3 percent more than in the first half of 2011.
   The agency said the increase is attributable, in part, to a new express rail service between the port and Chicago that began this year.
   The New York Container Terminal at Howland Hook, Staten Island, reported the biggest increase in rail cargo transported, up 45 percent this year compared with the same six-month period in 2011.
   At full capacity the ExpressRail can handle 1.3 million cargo containers.
   The port authority is currently building a bridge that it expects to complete next year that will link the Port Newark Container Terminal with a facility which can handle four 10,000-foot-long container trains daily. The bridge over Corbin Street will improve the flow of truck traffic carrying containers to the trains. – Chris Dupin