Construction on new Florida East Coast intermodal terminal on schedule
Published: October 18, 2013
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Construction work on Florida East Coast Railway's new $53 million, 42.5-acre intermodal container transfer facility at Port Everglades is proceeding on schedule. The facility will allow the transfer of domestic and international containers between ship and rail, and will replace FEC's existing 12-acre intermodal yard two miles from the port in Fort Lauderdale in mid-2014.
"The Port Everglades intermodal container transfer facility allows us to build 9,000-foot unit trains within the facility without blocking any streets. The trains will then go to places such as Atlanta and Charlotte in two days, or Nashville and Memphis in three days. FEC's connections to CSX and NS allow for rail service to 70 percent of the U.S. population within four days. This is big benefit to customers that ship cargo into and out of Port Everglades," said FEC President Jim Hertwig.
The new facility will include a marshaling area, gantry cranes, and separate entrance gates to handle domestic and international containers simultaneously. Six working tracks totaling approximately 18,000 linear feet will handle trains up to 9,000 feet long.
Port Everglades contributed land for the facility valued at $19 million. Construction costs are estimated to total $53 million, which will be paid through $18 million in grants from the Florida Department of Transportation's Strategic Intermodal System program, a $30 million FDOT State Infrastructure Bank loan, and $5 million from FEC.
Per Trains NewsWire
Sounds great for FEC, Port Everglades and Fort Lauderdale.
I believe the current intermodal yard in Ft. Lauderdale (that the new one is replacing) has been talked about by AAF as a place to store their trains overnight for the early morning northbound runs out of Miami.