OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has added Dallas and Phoenix to the lanes it is serving with on-dock international intermodal service from Houston.
“In cooperation with Port Houston, ocean carriers and Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCO) have access to rail service between Barbours Cut Container Terminal at Port Houston and 11 key Union Pacific-served markets. The on-dock operation will save customers’ time, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and simplify the end-to-end supply chain for all of our customers,” the railroad said in a customer notification on Wednesday.
UP opened the Phoenix intermodal terminal earlier this month. Last May UP said new service at Barbours Cut would provide customers direct rail access to Denver; Salt Lake City; Oakland, Calif.; Los Angeles; and El Paso, Texas.
UP also links Barbours Cut with Chicago, Memphis, Kansas City, and Laredo, Texas.
UP and BNSF co-own the line south, out of Denver to Pueblo, CO, known as the “Joint Line.” Once at Denver UP can go north to Cheyenne and then West to SLC or NW from Denver over the old Denver & Salt Lake Route (former Rio Grande) through Moffat Tunnel through Western Colorado and Central Utah to Provo, UT and north to SLC. South of Pueblo, UP has trackage rights over BNSF into New Mexico and south on its own lines to points south in Texas, including Houston.
I’m curious, what’s the point of hauling a container from the port of Houston to the port of Long Beach? Bypassing the Panama canal?
How are they getting from Houston to Denver and Salt Lake? Are they using BNSF trackage rights or running through Kansas?