The first year of operations for the ship-to-rail facility ExpressRail Staten Island has been a success, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Moving 44,000 containers by rail and removing approximately 70,000 trucks from local roads in its first year of operations, the ExpressRail facility has the capacity to do even better. The rail facility can handle up to 100,000 containers per year, says the Port Authority.
The monthly volumes for the facility jumped from 451 in July 2007 to over 5,000 in June 2008.
“Investing in on-dock rail terminals is a critical part of our strategy to maintain our port's standing as the East Coast's premier shipping destination,” said Anthony R. Coscia, Port Authority Chairman. The $600 million investment in ExpressRail “is paying dividends by reducing congestion on our local roads and enabling the movement of essential goods in an efficient and environmentally sustainable way,” he added.
The facility itself was built for $26 million on a 39-acre parcel on the former Procter & Gamble site which the Port Authority purchased in December 2000. It consists of five tacks linked to the reactivated Staten Island Railroad.
