Savannah port targets Midwest with $128M rail expansion

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) – The Port of Savannah plans to expand its reach beyond the Southeast and into the Midwest with a $128 million rail project designed for larger trains to carry cargo to cities as far away as Chicago.

Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, said in his annual “State of the Ports” speech Thursday that larger ships arriving via the recently expanded Panama Canal should allow Savannah to compete for cargo that’s now moving through ports on the West Coast.

The Savannah, the fourth-busiest U.S. container port, currently has two rail terminals capable of moving about 500,000 container units each year. The planned expansion will combine them into a single terminal that can move twice as many container units and form trains up to 10,000 feet long.