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Union Pacific has announced plans to build a $90 million state-of-the-art 300-acre intermodal rail terminal alongside Interstate 35 in San Antonio, advancing the city's goal to establish itself as a NAFTA inland port.In an Aug. 23 announcement, the railroad said the San Antonio terminal will process more than 100,000 truck trailers annually when completed in 2008, with the capacity to grow to a potential of 250,000 trailers and containers per year.Kyle Burns, president and CEO of the Free Trade Alliance San Antonio, told WND in an e-mail,"The new Union Pacific Intermodal facility located in south San Antonio will be a benefit to San Antonio by further enhancing our world-class logistics and transportation infrastructure, that currently handles interstates and rail lines, running both north-south and east-west. San Antonio is at the cross-roads of U.S.-Mexico-Canadian trade."With over 80,000 semi trucks currently traveling to rail yards within the San Antonio city limits to pick up or drop off containers and trailers, the new facility is designed to relieve traffic in the city. Additionally, the new terminal will give truckers the option to drop off their containers with easy access from I-10 and I-35, accommodating in San Antonio many trucks that now must go through the city to Houston to drop off containers for trains bound for other destinations.Union Pacific plans to utilize advanced computer systems and technology to coordinate the movement of rail cars, trucks, trailers and containers such that, "a truck entering or leaving the facility will be stopped at the gate for only 30 to 45 seconds, compared to the national average of four minutes."In making the announcement, Union Pacific positioned the railroad as a North American railroad, commenting, "Union Pacific connects with Canada's rail systems and is the only railroad serving all six major gateways to Mexico, making it North America's premier rail franchise."The San Antonio Business Journal noted the Union Pacific terminal was strategically located to ship and receive containers with household goods both from West Coast ports such as Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as Mexican ports such as Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas.Additionally, the terminal will receive containers of auto parts destined for the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas Inc. plant in San Antonio."Combined with multi-modal services at Port San Antonio," Burns told WND, "this new facility provides a service and infrastructure that will assist existing manufacturers and attract new manufacturing companies to join the already successful Toyota tundra manufacturing plant."The Free Trade Alliance San Antonio was created in 1994 as a trade group dedicated to promoting the development of San Antonio as a world trade inland port....To read more go to:
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