New Orleans dedicates intermodal rail yard
The Port of New Orleans Monday dedicated the Napoleon Intermodal Rail Yard, a new facility permitting efficient ship to rail transfer of cargo containers at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal.
“The new rail yard represents an efficient way to connect our water and rail transportation networks,” said Gary LaGrange, president and chief executive officer of the Port of New Orleans.
| Gary LaGrange, president and chief executive officer of the Port of New Orleans, presides over dedication of the Napoleon Intermodal Rail Yard. |
Canadian National Railway, with a rail network spanning the U.S. Midwest and Canada, is the first Class 1 railroad to serve the new Port of New Orleans rail yard via its switching agent, the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad. CN is hauling about 350 to 400 containers per week using the facility, which is equipped with four 1,700-foot-long tracks with concrete pads enabling cranes to transfer containers between trucks and rail cars.
The New Orleans Public Belt provides access to the Port of New Orleans for the CN and five other railroads: Union Pacific, BNSF, Kansas City Southern, CSX and Norfolk Southern. The container terminal has an annual capacity of 366,000 containers and weekly ocean services on multiple shipping lines to Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, the East and West coasts of South America and Central America.
Development of the Napoleon Intermodal Rail Yard is part of the port’s $1-billion 2020 Master Plan. The seven-acre rail yard is part of a 26-acre property that the port bought from CN in 2002. The 2020 master plan calls for the expansion of the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal on the property, and includes additional improvements to the rail yard to maximize container throughput at the site.