MEGARAIL GROWTH CONTINUES WITH BEST AUGUST ON RECORD. RAIL VOLUMES UP 6% YTD AND NOW COMPRISE 21% OF VESSEL LIFTS. NEW ‘CAROLINA CONNECTOR’ RAIL SERVICE ADDED.
Source: GA Ports
September 26, 2023 – Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah handled 49,115 containers by rail in August (approximately 89,000 TEUs), an increase of 6 percent over the same month last year. Intermodal cargo represented 21.6 percent of total containers, an uptick in that ratio of roughly 7 percent compared to August 2022.
“With our Mason Mega Rail Terminal fully operational, we now have the capacity to shift more of our long-haul cargo off state highways and onto rail, which both improves fuel efficiency and reduces traffic congestion,” GPA President and CEO Griff Lynch said.
At the GPA Board meeting, Lynch reported that Georgia Ports and CSX have worked together to provide 7-day-a-week rail departures between the Port of Savannah’s Mason Mega Rail Terminal and the railroad’s CCX Yard in Rocky Mount, NC. The Carolina Connector direct rail service will offer customers three-day transit time from vessel discharge to cargo availability. Savannah’s position as a first port of call for ocean carriers transiting the Panama Canal means cargo will be available at CCX before containers could even be unloaded from a vessel at ports farther up the coast. Read More…