New CSX-Served Appalachian Regional Port Opens for Business

Georgia Ports Authority’s Inland Port hosts ribbon-cutting ceremony.

August 23, 2018 – Dean Piacente, vice president of intermodal sales and marketing, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, Georgia Ports Authority representatives and state officials participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally open the Appalachian Regional Port (ARP) in Chatsworth, Ga on August 22.

“CSX is proud to serve regional customers through the ARP, which will unlock new economic opportunities while lowering shipping costs,” Piacente said to more than 350 business and civic leaders attending the event. “We applaud the vision and leadership of Governor Deal and the Georgia Ports Authority, as they drive Georgia forward in ways that will benefit both businesses and consumers.”

The new state-of-the-art facility is located off of Interstate 75 in Northwest Georgia’s Murray County. The 42-acre site provides logistics solutions for customers in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. CSX will provide ARP service to and from the Port of Savannah. 

By serving the ARP, CSX is offering an efficient, cost-effective, environmentally-friendly method for shipping goods over land. This will give shippers an alternative to trucking their goods to and from the Port of Savannah, and will help lower shipping costs for businesses in the region.

“The Appalachian Regional Port is a powerful new gateway to the Port of Savannah that extends the efficiencies of Georgia’s superior port operations to new markets,” said Gov. Deal. “It will also serve as an economic development magnet, drawing business and industry to the Southeast U.S.”

With both imports and exports coming through the port, CSX will balance freight traffic in both directions, maximizing the use of our assets and driving growth with our reliable, efficient service. As the facility is intended to deliver finished goods more efficiently to and from the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal, Port officials estimate that each round-trip container moved by CSX to and from the ARP will offset 710 truck miles on Georgia highways.

The new rail terminal will be worked by three environmentally friendly electric rubber-tired gantry cranes. Each has a lift capacity greater than 40 tons and, working together, can handle 100,000 container lifts per year.

The facility opens with an annual capacity of 50,000 containers.