Oct 18 2013
BNSF Railway today introduced its new Logistics Park Kansas City (LPKC) Intermodal Facility in Edgerton, Kan., to customers, business and elected officials during the facility’s grand opening ceremony.
LPKC is a more than 1,550-acre master-planned distribution and warehouse development anchored by BNSF’s newest intermodal facility, the third such facility to anchor a Logistics Park on BNSF’s network.
BNSF’s LPKC Intermodal Facility has been designed to accommodate the growing demands of freight rail transportation in the Kansas City region and will initially nearly double BNSF’s lift capacity in that market. The Intermodal facility encompasses 433 acres and will have an initial lift capacity of 500,000 truck containers and trailers with the ability to expand to 1.5 million units.
“BNSF greatly appreciates the support of all of the government and business leaders who worked with us to make this day possible. That support is an important part of the reason why Kansas City has developed into one of the most strategic transportation hubs in the nation,” said Matthew K. Rose, chairman and chief executive officer. “BNSF’s significant investment in this new facility will not only make this one of the most efficient intermodal facilities in the country, it will also help enhance the Kansas City region’s position in the global supply chain by offering shippers more capacity and service options.”
BNSF has incorporated decades of experience in developing more efficient logistics facilities into the design of the $250 million LPKC Intermodal Facility. BNSF helped pioneer the Logistics Park concept which uses an intermodal facility to anchor the development of adjacent distribution centers to reduce supply chain costs, truck miles traveled, energy consumption and emissions.
The LPKC facility has six 8,000-foot tracks for loading and unloading Intermodal trains, more than 1,800 parking spaces and will have 4,300 container stacking spots at full build-out. It is equipped with five wide-span, electric, rail-mounted gantry cranes, which produce zero emissions on site and will significantly reduce the number of hostler trucks needed to move containers within the facility.
LPKC also features an automated gate system for trucks as they enter and exit the intermodal facility, a biometric driver identification system and digital cameras to record images of containers, chassis and tractors. These elements will increase security, while improving throughput, and reducing truck idling and emissions.
LPKC is the only full-service BNSF facility in the western two-thirds of the U.S. offering domestic intermodal service (container, trailer, and expedited and standard service levels), international intermodal service and direct-rail/carload service. The facility also has direct access to I-35 via the new Homestead Lane and Double Diverging Diamond Interchange reducing idling, braking and emissions.
LPKC is projected to help create an estimated 7,400 jobs in the immediate area of the development and 13,000 jobs in the state of Kansas at full build-out.