GPA Opens Expanded Intermodal Facility

Two Norfolk Southern 4,400 horsepower locomotives break a ribbon during a ceremony celebrating the grand opening of the Georgia Ports Authority James D. Mason intermodal container transfer facility, Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, in Savannah, Ga. Photo: GPA/Stephen Morton

Georgia Ports Authority opened its expanded Mason Intermodal Container Transfer Facility at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Savannah today.

Curtis Foltz, GPA’s executive director, said the $6.5 million, 6,000-foot railyard extension will increase capacity, improve efficiencies and reduce costs for customers.

Previously, trains entered the Mason ICTF from the east and exited toward the west, requiring trains to make a wide loop through Garden City. Now, trains can enter from the west, avoiding 21 rail crossings and shaving six hours from the roundtrip turn times to Atlanta.

The two railyards at the port’s Garden City Terminal, serving Class I rail providers Norfolk Southern and CSX, now feature a total of 46,921 linear feet of track.

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