Posted on December 8, 2020
On the heels of achieving its busiest month on record for both container trade and roll-on/roll-off cargo, the Georgia Ports Authority has reached a major milestone on its Mason Mega Rail Terminal.
Railcars are now traveling newly installed track linking Garden City Terminal’s Chatham and Mason railyards. The additional track boosts on-terminal storage capacity by 35% and allows GPA to build more trains of nearly 10,000 feet in length on terminal for both Class I railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern. The Mason Mega Rail project is now more than 75% finished.
“When complete, Mason Mega Rail Terminal will not only double our rail lift capacity to 2 million TEUs per year, it will increase our reach into the heartland with more frequent, direct service and unmatched reliability,” GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch said. “This expansion will also ensure the free flow of cargo across our terminal and beyond our gates as Savannah takes on more business.”
GPA Board Chairman Will McKnight said accommodating new business is key to GPA’s central mission of economic development — and a main reason the Authority is expanding terminal capacity.
“Our long-term infrastructure investments ensure cargo fluidity as Savannah’s container trade increases,” McKnight said. “By improving our berthing for today’s larger vessels, expanding container storage, and doubling our rail lift capacity, we’re making sure GPA is ready when our customers are ready to grow.”
At the GPA’s Nov. 30 board meeting, Lynch reported container volumes at the Port of Savannah reached an all-time high of 464,095 twenty-foot equivalent container units in October, up 35,714 TEUs or 8.3% compared to the same month last year. The performance eclipsed the previous all-time record, set in August, of 441,600 TEUs. Savannah’s July through October trade totaled 1.68 million TEUs, an increase of 55,378, or 3.4% for the fiscal year to date.
