CSX, Georgia Ports Authority sign pact to open new inland port

CSX Transportation and the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) signed an agreement yesterday to establish an inland port in northwest Georgia that will create a new intermodal option to and from the Port of Savannah.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and officials from the ports authority, CSX and Murray County signed the memorandum of agreement to establish the Appalachian Regional Port in Chatsworth, Ga. In addition to northwest Georgia, its service area will include Alabama, Tennessee and parts of Kentucky.
 
Operated by the GPA, the new port will be located on 42 acres in Murray County and will feature on-terminal rail. The site is next to U.S. Highway 411 and provides access to Interstate 75. Officials anticipate the new facility will open by 2018.

"The public-private partnership established today, which includes direct rail access to the new inland port, will expand access for domestic and international shippers, providing increased options for cost-effective, environmentally friendly transportation services," said Clarence Gooden, CSX's executive vice president and chief commercial officer, in a press release.

Port officials estimate the CSX route will reduce Atlanta’s truck traffic by 40,000 moves annually. Each container moved by rail to the new inland port will offset 355 truck miles on Georgia highways.

"This new inland port is located in an industrial belt, which includes the production and export of carpet and flooring, automobiles and tires," said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. "The Appalachian Regional Port will make those commodities more competitive in the global market by saving port customers money on inland transit costs. Moving more containers to rail will also reduce carbon emissions."