Union Pacific Railroad opens Joliet Intermodal Terminal

THE Union Pacific Railroad has been celebrating the opening of its US$370 million, 785-acre Joliet Intermodal Terminal that will raise the capacity of its international and domestic container service in the Chicago area.

The Joliet Intermodal Terminal is designed to handle an annual capacity of 500,000 over-the-road trailers or ocean-going containers, making it the company's second largest terminal based on capacity, after Long Beach.

This capacity is expected to allow Union Pacific to continue to pursue opportunities in this growing rail-truck market. The new facility has additional space for future expansion based on customer demand and capacity needs, it said in a statement on Business Wire.

"Our $370 million private investment for this intermodal terminal will greatly enhance our ability to serve customers and the community. The advanced computers and technology used here coordinate all movements in the terminal, improving productivity and performance while reducing emissions," said Jim Young, Union Pacific chairman and CEO, on a Business Wire report.

"Union Pacific built the Joliet Intermodal Terminal with an eye towards the environment. We installed solar panels to harness the sun's energy to provide electricity to our office at the entrance to the terminal, and we purchased air compressors equipped with 'soft start' technology which requires less energy when starting in our effort to make this facility the 'greenest' terminal on our system," Mr Young said.

The opening of the new terminal comes amid "substantial" growth in intermodal traffic, particularly in the Chicago area, during the last decade.

Construction began on the terminal in August 2008 and phase one was completed in August 2010. It includes four 8,000-foot tracks with the capacity to handle the loading or unloading of 104 intermodal double-stack rail cars; six 8,000-foot tracks and an additional six tracks to stage rail cars prior to loading; four cranes that straddle the rail cars and one rubber-tyre mobile packer that lifts trailers and containers on and off rail cars.

The cranes are equipped with global positioning system (GPS) technology and there are more than 4,000 staging, or parking places, for trailers and containers. Advanced technology has been installed to coordinate all movement of rail cars, trucks, trailers and containers.

Union Pacific added in a statement that it plans to spend $2.6 billion in 2010 "to support America's current and future freight transportation needs and enhance the safety and efficiency of its 32,000-mile network." 
(Source:www.schednet.com)