Rail Development: PANYNJ

The board of commissioners of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on Sept. 17 approved a major redevelopment of Greenville Yard that will include a new ExpressRail facility – the fourth of its type to be built by the agency – that will support the adjacent Global Marine Terminal. This will allow the terminal in the Jersey City area of the bi-state port to ship and receive containerized cargo by rail, a capability that it now lacks.

The board also approved a series of improvements to the cross-harbor car float system operated by NY-NJ Rail that moves freight by both water and rail (as opposed to truck) between New Jersey and markets east of the Hudson River, including New York City and Long Island.

The total program cost of approximately $356 million will be financed by contributions of roughly $320 million from the port authority and approximately $36 million from third-party stakeholders. Of the $320 million in port authority funding, approximately $234 million will be reimbursed through a combination of federally earmarked funds, grants and the port authority's cargo facility charge. Under the board's action, the project is conditioned on the continued availability of the cargo facility charge, which is used to pay for the costs of certain road, rail and common infrastructure improvements within the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Cargo coming on and off the Global Terminal is now transported to and from its final destination primarily by truck. The new facility will allow for transloading of containerized cargo from ship to rail, offering ocean carriers and their customers a more efficient and environmentally-friendly option for goods movement. The facility will have an initial capacity of at least 125,000 cargo container lifts a year, and is expected to be operational on or about July 2016.

In addition, the program calls for a significant upgrade to the NY-NJ Rail operation, which is owned by the port authority and operates the last cross-harbor car float system on the Hudson River. Under the system, freight is loaded on rail cars and the cars are moved by marine rail barge carfloat from Greenville to rail yards in Brooklyn, where they are delivered to local customers or transferred to a connecting railroad.

According to the port authority, the program, when completed, will provide significant environmental benefits, including reductions to vehicle travel time, fuel consumption and a reduction in air emissions. As a result of the projects, 1.6 million metric tons of carbon monoxide emissions will be avoided over a 30-year period, 142 million gallons of diesel fuel will be saved and 17.1 million truck trips on local roads will be avoided.

Certain off-site improvements to the freight rail network in northern New Jersey also will be made to ensure it is equipped to handle the additional rail activity that will be generated by the redeveloped Greenville Yard. In addition, Global Terminal will contribute approximately $15 million for the procurement and installation of rail-mounted gantry cranes at the ExpressRail facility. Once construction is completed, Global will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the facility.

The new ExpressRail Port Jersey includes the construction of approximately 10,000 feet of working track, 32,000 feet of support track and switches and infrastructure to support rail-mounted gantry cranes at the facility.

The upgrades to the New York-New Jersey carfloat system include construction of up to two new transfer bridges at Greenville and related lead and support tracks; the purchase of two larger car floats, each with the capability of transporting 18 rail cars; and the purchase of up to four new, ultra low emission locomotives to replace existing ones that have outlived their useful lives.

American Association of Port Authorities
Asociación Americana de Autoridades Portuarias
1201 Maryland Ave SW, Suite 860, Washington, D.C. 20024
E: info@aapa-ports.org
W: www.aapa-ports.org