The new Mason Mega Rail terminal will add thousands of extra feet of track to enable the port to load trains that are 10,000 feet long. It also will double Savannah's capacity to move 40-ft. cargo containers by rail to 1 million containers per year by 2028. (GA Ports Authority - Mega Rail photo)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Port of Savannah began construction March 27 on a $127 million rail terminal designed for longer trains that can take advantage of bigger cargo ships arriving at the busy seaport and target new customers in the Midwest.

The new hub for transferring cargo between trains and docked ships will be a “game changer” for Savannah, the nation's fourth-busiest container port, said Jimmy Allgood, board chairman for the Georgia Ports Authority. It will replace two smaller rail terminals at the port.

The new Mason Mega Rail terminal will add thousands of extra feet of track to enable the port to load trains that are 10,000 feet long. It also will double Savannah's capacity to move 40-ft. cargo containers by rail to 1 million containers per year by 2028. About half the added capacity will be available as soon as 2020.

The port authority's goal is to expand Savannah's customer base farther inland and compete for cargo that currently moves through ports on the West Coast. Allgood said the new terminal will allow CSX and Norfolk Southern trains to carry cargo directly to cities such as Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati, shaving up to 24 hours off transit times.

“It will open a new corridor for American commerce to and from the Midwest,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement.

Port officials say the longer, more efficient trains will also reduce the need for trucks to haul cargo, removing about 200,000 tractor-trailers from Georgia highways each year.

The rail expansion comes as larger cargo ships are coming to Savannah through the recently expanded Panama Canal. The Army Corps of Engineers is about midway through a $973 million deepening of the Savannah River shipping channel that links the port to the Atlantic Ocean.

The big ships are already arriving, though they have to carry lighter loads and navigate the river at higher tides. Savanah is already seeing more cargo as a result. The port last year handled a record 4 million container units, each equal to one-half a standard 40-ft. shipping container.

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