Kansas City Southern (KCS) began a new weekly service between the Port of New Orleans and Wylie, Texas (Dallas-market) May 29, relaunching intermodal service to this lane for the first time since 2005.

“The return of the Kansas City Southern weekly intermodal service helps us capture greater market share and optimize throughput, with the ultimate goal of providing the best service possible to our customers,” said Brandy D. Christian, Port of New Orleans President and CEO, and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Corporation CEO. “This new intermodal service strengthens Port NOLA’s position as a seamless freight gateway, and we look forward to growing business with KCS.”

On February 1, 2018, Port NOLA acquired the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, a Class III switching railroad with the primary mission of serving the Port, its six Class I railroad partners and local industry. The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad improves Port NOLA’s intermodal capabilities and global competitiveness, while allowing strategic investments for growth and improved service to the six Class I railroads and Port tenants. Additionally, the Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal, located at Port NOLA’s Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, provides highly efficient options for moving cargo via rail.

“KCS is pleased to re-launch this intermodal service between New Orleans and the growing Dallas import market,” said KCS Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Brian D. Hancock. “In our continuing quest to be the most customer-focused transportation provider in North America, KCS is providing options to our customers in both the U.S. and Mexico through port services and transit options for supply chains from Asia, Latin America and Europe.”

KCS’ David L. Starling Wylie Intermodal Terminal opened for operations in 2015, serving domestic and international intermodal customers. The Wylie Intermodal Terminal has an automated gate system with high definition imagers, optical character recognition and biometric driver identification. It also has 1,500 parking spaces, 400 container stack spots, enhanced traffic signals, specific turn lanes, two 5,000-foot intermodal tracks, and by the end of 2018, will have an annual lift capacity of over 342,000 units.

Published: June 6, 2018