Florida East Coast to restore service to Miami port

Later this month, Florida East Coast Railway L.L.C. (FEC) expects to restore freight-rail service to PortMiami, which was suspended in 2005 after Hurricane Wilma severely damaged a rail bridge leading into and out of the port.

When the on-dock rail service resumes, shippers will be able to reach more than 70 percent of the U.S. population from Miami in four days or less, FEC officials said in an announcement.

FEC and PortMiami officials held a media tour/preview of the on-dock service on Oct. 1. The event also highlighted other infrastructure improvements under way at the port, including the deepening of its main channel to 50 feet, the completion of a port tunnel and the addition of four new Super Post-Panamex cranes.

The port on Monday took delivery of the gantry cranes, which are designed to handle the super-sized container vessels that will begin passing through the expanded Panama Canal in less than two years, port officials said in a press release.

FEC is building an intermodal yard on Dodge Island that will enable the port to accommodate the large ships' accelerated container volume, beginning next year.