UP: New Intermodal Terminal Coming to Kansas City
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor, Railway Age
UP is slated to open the Kansas Intermodal Terminal (Armourdale Yard) in mid-2025. (UP Map)
OMAHA –– Construction is under way for a new Union Pacific (UP) intermodal terminal in Kansas City, Mo., which the Class I railroad said will serve both domestic and international containerized shipments of grains, consumer goods, refrigerated products, and pet foods. It is expected to open in mid-2025, adding capacity to UP’s current Kansas City operation.
Located west of downtown on existing UP property (Armourdale Yard), the Kansas City Intermodal Terminal will provide customers in the growing markets of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska access to UP’s 23-state network, including ocean ports on the West Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, the railroad said. It will also “accommodate significant future expansion with growth in demand,” according to the railroad, as well as “help to convert more truck traffic to rail, reduce congestion on the nation’s highways, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.”
The Kansas City Intermodal Terminal will include UP’s PGT gating system, which was developed in-house to scan a driver’s equipment and speed up the gating process, allowing truckers to quickly enter and exit the ramp, UP noted.
“We are excited to offer shippers and receivers a centralized location to meet growing shipping demands in the Midwest,” said Kenny Rocker, Executive Vice President–Marketing and Sales at UP. “Kansas City Intermodal Terminal will offer shippers convenient and cost-effective access to our 32,000-mile network, with the ability to reach Mexico, Canada and overseas markets.”
Earlier this year, UP opened an intermodal terminal within its downtown Phoenix, Ariz.. rail yard, which Rocker reported offers regional shippers and receivers in Arizona “a fast, sustainable rail option to move product in international containers into and out of Southern California that is cost competitive and removes trucks from our nation’s congested highways.” UP also more recently brought intermodal terminals to Southern California and the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, for instance.
(UP Photograph)
