FEC container facility brings more cargo to Port Everglades

By: Jennifer Sorentrue

The Florida East Coast Railway‘s 43-acre intermodal facility in Broward County is bringing more cargo to Port Everglades.

Broward County officials say FECR’s “intermodal container transfer facility,” which opened in late 2014, helped boost cargo volumes at Port Everglades during the 2014-15 fiscal year. Florida East Coast Railway saw a 26 percent increase in volume at the intermodal facility during its first year of operations, according to a news release issued by the port.

Containerized cargo volumes at Port Everglades grew by 5 percent during the 2014-15 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, according to Broward officials. Port officials attribute the increase to new and expanded cargo service, including the first full operational year of FECR’s intermodal facility.

“We continue making substantial infrastructure investments to help our customers grow their businesses – most notably, the FECR’s railyard and roadway improvements to improve the last mile of landside connectivity,” said Port Everglades Chief Executive and Port Director Steven Cernak.

The intermodal facility is located next to Crowley Maritime Corporation’s terminal at Port Everglades.

In a Nov. 2014 news release announcing the opening of the intermodal facility, FECR said it “provides Crowley customers with more efficient cargo handling and faster deliveries now that containers no longer need to be trucked via interstate highways to and from an off-site rail terminal.” The facility also allows Crowley to handle “bigger, heavier break bulk and out-of-gauge cargo more efficiently and cost effectively because of the shorter distance required for transit to and from the rail facility,” the news release said.

“Our investment in this state-of-the-art facility increases FECR’s available intermodal capacity from 100,000 to 450,000 lifts a year, which is expected to result in more containers moving on FECR instead of the congested highways  and improving the efficiency of our intermodal network,”  James R. Hertwig, FECR’s President and CEO said in the Nov. 2014 news release.  “We are pleased with the initial performance of the ICTF and look forward to continuing to offer efficient transportation services for Crowley and the shipping community around Port Everglades.”

Florida East Coast Railway is an affiliate of All Aboard Florida‘s parent company, Florida East Coast Industries.

All Aboard Florida’s Brightline rail service plans to run 32 trains a day along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks with stops in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando. The company plans to launch service between Miami and West Palm Beach in 2017. The West Palm Beach-to-Orlando span is expected to begin by the end of 2017.

All Aboard Florida is in the process of adding a second train track along the Florida East Coast Railway line.  The second track will allow passenger trains to operate jointly with the existing freight trains, All Aboard officials have said.