Indiana Rail Road Kicks Off 3-Year Intermodal Expansion Project

Short line Indiana Rail Road (INRD) is planning a multiyear expansion of intermodal facilities for customers that want service to and from the Indianapolis market and Canadian and U.S. West Coast ports.

INRD has kicked off the first phase of its expansion project, which will span three years and will have an anticipated completion date in 2023, the company said Monday.

The first phase, which included the acquisition of 12 acres of land adjacent to INRD's container yard, will more than double the container yard footprint, include an onsite chassis depot, and "allow a generous amount of incremental parking capacity and flexibility," INRD said. The first phase will include ground preparation and the installation of concrete inbound-outbound traffic lanes with a kiosk gate system for expedited handling.

In the following two phases, INDR will construct two loading pad tracks and rear access service roads, as well as install lighting and high-security fencing.

"The launch of this project represents the entrepreneurial thinking of our management team," said INDR President and CEO Dewayne Swindall, who praised Bob Babcock, senior vice president of operations, and Dan Corcoran, manager of intermodal business development, for "a tremendous job in establishing the value and growing this business with our Class I partners."

INDR's existing intermodal facility, the Senate Avenue Intermodal Terminal, is projected to move more than 40,000 containers and recently began a grain export operation with International Feed, the company said. The facility opened in 2013 and moved 1,450 containers in its first year.

According to the company's website, INDR partners with Canadian railway CN CNI and all major ocean carrier alliances for its intermodal services. The Senate Avenue terminal, located in Indianapolis, bypasses Chicago, which helps customers avoid terminal congestion and costly drayage to and from central Indiana and the Ohio Valley, INDR said.

The short line contends that its service to Asia uses the ports of Prince Rupert and Vancouver, which is 2.5 days closer to key Asian ports than going through the Southern California ports.

INDR, a privately held, 250-mile short line serving southwest Indian and eastern Illinois, also offers transloading services, railcar storage, and locomotive maintenance and repair for electro-motive diesel locomotives.

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