Florida East Coast Railway, LLC (FEC), Jacksonville, Fla., announced plans to open a new state-of-the-art intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF) adjacent to Port Everglades.

The 43-acre facility increases FEC's available intermodal capacity from 100,000 to 450,000 lifts a year, and the unique, near-dock facility will improve the transfer of both domestic and international containers between ships and rail. Currently such containers must be drayed off-port to rail terminals such as Andrews Avenue rail yard in Fort Lauderdale or to Hialeah rail yard in Miami-Dade County.

Additionally, having empty 53-foot domestic containers and trailers adjacent to the port provides more opportunities to trans-load import cargo from ocean containers to domestic containers for inland rail transport. This results in more domestic containers moving north as loads instead of empties, increasing the efficiency of the intermodal network.

The new ICTF will facilitate faster delivery times and create less congested roadways by eliminating a high volume of trucks from state highways.