Union Pacific Railroad is expanding its service at the Port of Houston, allowing intermodal containers to be loaded directly onto rail cars at the Barbours Cut Container Terminal starting in June, eliminating the need for trucks and speeding up the shipping process.
Union Pacific's service expansion at Port Houston will provide customers with direct rail access to five major metropolitan intermodal markets in Denver, Salt Lake City, Oakland, Los Angeles, and El Paso. One of the key benefits of this initiative is the elimination of the approximately 30-mile truck trip from the port to the nearest rail facility in Houston to load containers onto railcars. This reduction in truck traffic will significantly reduce congestion in the Houston area, benefiting both the local community and the environment.
“The new on-dock terminal service provides additional routing options to key metropolitan markets, while helping customers enhance their efficiency,” said Kari Kirchhoefer, senior vice president – Premium, Marketing and Sales.
Port Houston, the largest intermodal container port on the Gulf Coast, handling 73% of the Gulf Coast's container traffic, plays a vital role in the economic growth of the Houston region, the state of Texas, and the United States as a whole. “Port Houston is a top five container port and growing fast, and intermodal solutions like this help ensure continued efficient movement of goods to locations throughout the U.S.,” explained Roger Guenther, executive director at Port Houston.
