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Rail terminal in NW Ga. to link industry to Savannah port

In this Tuesday, July 28, 2015 photo provided by the Georgia Port Authority, from left to right, CSX Senior Vice President Clarence Gooden, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, Murray County Commissioner Brittany Pittman, and Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz, sign the Memorandum of Agreement to establish the Appalachian Regional Port near Chatsworth, Ga., in Chatsworth, Ga. The inland port, due to open in 2018, will serve as a direct link from the Port of Savannah to North Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and parts of Kentucky. (Stephen Morton/Georgia Port Authority via AP)
In this Tuesday, July 28, 2015 photo provided by the Georgia Port Authority, from left to right, CSX Senior Vice President Clarence Gooden, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, Murray County Commissioner Brittany Pittman, and Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz, sign the Memorandum of Agreement to establish the Appalachian Regional Port near Chatsworth, Ga., in Chatsworth, Ga. The inland port, due to open in 2018, will serve as a direct link from the Port of Savannah to North Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and parts of Kentucky. (Stephen Morton/Georgia Port Authority via AP) In this Tuesday, July 28, 2015 photo provided by the Georgia Port Authority, from left to right, CSX Senior Vice President Clarence Gooden, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, Murray County Commissioner Brittany Pittman, and Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz, sign the Memorandum of Agreement to establish the Appalachian Regional Port near Chatsworth, Ga., in Chatsworth, Ga. The inland port, due to open in 2018, will serve as a direct link from the Port of Savannah to North Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and parts of Kentucky. (Stephen Morton/Georgia Port Authority via AP)

By Associated Press 1 min read

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) – The state agency that manages Georgia’s coastal seaports is launching a new project 300 miles inland from its docks in Savannah.

The Georgia Ports Authority plans to break ground later this year on a $24 million rail terminal in Murray County, about 90 miles north of Atlanta and 40 miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The inland port will move cargo by train between northwest Georgia and the Savannah port.

Curtis Foltz, the port authority’s executive director, says there should be plenty of demand for the new terminal from nearby carpet manufacturers as well as automakers in neighboring Tennessee and Alabama.

When the new terminal opens in 2018, officials say, it should reduce truck trips through Atlanta by an estimated 40,000 trips each year.