Ports & Terminals

Georgia Ports launch rail initiative to reach into ‘new battleground’

A new strategic rail initiative aims to further expand the market reach of the Port of Savannah not only throughout the Southeast but also the Midwest. Griffith V. “Griff” Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, made the announcement today [Sept. 15] before a crowd of more than 1,300 in the annual state of the port address hosted by GPA and the Propeller Club of the United States-Port of Savannah at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center. The rail initiative – dubbed GPA’s Mid-American Arc – includes a $128 million project, backed by a $44 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant, to link the two rail yards now serving the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal and double the rail facility’s annual rail lift capacity to 1 million containers. The “mega rail terminal,” combining yards currently separately served by CSX and Norfolk Southern trains, will, according to Lynch, be “a state-of-the-industry facility the likes of which does not exist certainly on the East Coast and maybe all of North America.” Lynch said the added rail capacity will enable the Port of Savannah to compete in “a new battleground” extending along an arc from Atlanta to Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago and the Ohio Valley, with unit trains as long as 10,000 feet.
Griffith V. “Griff” Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, prepares to deliver his state of the port address. (Photo by Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT)
Griffith V. “Griff” Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, prepares to deliver his state of the port address. (Photo by Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT)
In addition, Lynch used the forum to announce that flooring retailer Floor & Decor, already a major Port of Savannah customer, plans to build a 2.5 million-square-foot distribution center in Pooler, about 10 miles from GPA docks. Also, Lynch, who in July assumed the helm at the Georgia Ports Authority after five years as GPA chief operating officer, took the opportunity to introduce his newly appointed successor in the COO slot, Ed McCarthy, who comes aboard at GPA this month after serving in a similar position at CMA CGM Americas. Comprehensive coverage is slated to appear in the Sept. 26 edition of the American Journal of Transportation.
Paul Scott Abbott
Paul Scott Abbott

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For more than a quarter of a century, Paul Scott Abbott has been writing and shooting images for the American Journal of Transportation, applying four decades of experience as an award-winning journalist.
A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, with a master’s magna cum laude from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Abbott has served as president of chapters of the Propeller Club of the United States, Florida Public Relations Association and Society of Professional Journalists.
Abbott honed his skills on several daily newspapers, including The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Richmond (Va.) News Leader, Albuquerque Journal and (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel, and was editor and publisher of The County Line, a weekly newspaper he founded in suburban Richmond, Va.
A native Chicagoan, he is a member of American Mensa and an ever-optimistic fan of the Chicago Cubs.

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