Port of Memphis gets $1.7 million grant for new track

Written by Staff and newswire report
Watco at Port of Memphis
Watco

The Port of Memphis will receive a $1.7 million grant to add track at the public terminal on President’s Island.

The funds will pay for 4,900 feet of new track and four new switches. The port expects the new track, which should create space to handle as many as 70 more rail cars at a time, will open the way for the port to handle unit trains. Construction will begin on June 1.

The Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County announced the Competitive Rail Connectivity Grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation on Jan. 16, according to the Daily Memphian.

Watco operates the public terminal on President’s Island, and offers connections to lines owned by CN, BNSF and UP. Watco is also building a rail scrap transfer facility on President’s Island. In addition to Watco, shippers who would benefit from the additional rail on President’s Island include Mid-South Milling and Buckeye Pipelines.

The grant for additional rail in Memphis comes less than a year after an acquisition increased Watco’s presence in the Houston Ship Channel.

The International Port of Memphis is the second largest inland port on the shallow draft portion of the Mississippi River, and the 5th largest inland Port in the United States. The International Port of Memphis covers the Tennessee and Arkansas sides of the Mississippi River from river Mile 725 to mile 740.

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