b'2American Journal of Transportation ajot.comSavannahs new rail facilityG e o r G i a P o r t s 2021providing mega-boost to intermodal capabilitiesBy Paul Scott Abbott, AJOTAlready the third-busiestSouthern, the respective Cha-U.S.gatewayforcontainer- thamandMasonrailyards ized cargo, the Georgia Portsofwhicharenowlinkedat Authoritys Port of SavannahGardenCityTerminalby isenjoyingamega-boostinnewly installed tracks in the itsinlandintermodalcapa- formation of the Mason Mega bilities as Garden City Termi- Rail facility.nal container volumes soar toTheadditionofmore record highs. than 18 miles of new trackNowmorethanthree- taking the total of on-termi-NS 79037 TransMaritimeTPM Conf Ad Jan2020 wBleed _PRINT.pdf 1 1/13/2020 10:27:21 AMquarters completed, the GPAsnal track to 34 milesboosts $220 million, 85-acre Masonstoragecapacityontheter-MegaRailTerminal,whichminalby35percentand beganinitialoperationsinallows the GPA to build more latefall2020,isexpedit- unittrainsofnearly10,000 ingefficientlinksbetweenfeet in length for both of the Savannahsbusier-than-everClassIrailroadsjust1,500 containership berths and suchorfeweryardsfromdocks key markets as Memphis and(FACILITYcontinued onOn Nov. 30, the Mason Mega Rail Terminal at the Port of Savannah sees its first train departure, ushering in a new era Chicago via CSX and Norfolkpage 4) of inland intermodal connectivity for the nations third-busiest containerized cargo gateway.(Photo credit: GPA/Stephen Morton)Southernrailserviceswith double-stacked containers.When complete, Mason MegaRailTerminalwill notonlydoubleourraillift capacityto2millionTEUs [20-foot-equivalent container units] per year, it will increase our reach into the Heartland withmorefrequent,direct serviceandunmatchedreli-ability, said Griff Lynch, the GPAs executive director.Thisexpansion,he added, will also ensure the freeflowofcargoacross our terminal and beyond our gatesasSavannahtakeson more business.Indeed, the Mason Mega RailTerminaliscoming onlinenonetoosoon.Trail-CingonlyLosAngeles/Long BeachandNewYork/New MJerseyamongthenations Ytopcontainergateways,the Port of Savannah saw record CMthroughput in November, the latest month with reported fig-MYures,breakingpriormonthly CYhighsestablishedinAugust andOctober,evenamidst CMYglobal pandemic. K a The Southeasts No. 1 con-tainer hub reached a volume of 464,804TEUsinNovember, up 28 percent from November 2019, setting an all-time high for any month, eclipsing the 464,095TEUshandledinNorfolk Southern, connecting oceans to land.October,whichitselfbested the 441,600 TEUs moved lastWhat container ships carry over oceans, NS and our rail partners August.Tohaveachievedall- move across a continent. From sails to rails, we are commi\x06ed time record volumes in threeto delivering service reliably, eciently, and safely.ofthelastfivemonthsisa tribute to the hard work and collaborationbetweenGPA andourpartnersthroughout thesupplychain,LynchTO LEARN MORE VISIT norfolksouthern.comsaid. The progress we have alreadymadeontheMason Mega Rail has delivered sig-nificantcapacityincreases andwillfurtherensure Savannahs role as the third-busiest container gateway in the nation.2020 Norfolk Southern Corp.|Three Commercial Place, Norfolk, Va. 23510|www.norfolksouthern.com Nopartnersaremore importanttothesuccessful effort than CSX and Norfolk'