South Carolina Ports Authority held a ceremony celebrating the completed rail expansion at Inland Port Greer, a logistics hub in Upstate South Carolina.
The rail-served inland port facility opened in 2013, extending the Port of Charleston’s reach 212 miles inland with Norfolk Southern’s daily, overnight rail service.
The site required expansion to keep up with a growing list of port customers including BMW, Michelin, Adidas, Eastman, First Solar, TTI Floorcare and Visual Comfort & Co., while global supply chain challenges reinforced the need for additional capacity.
The recently completed first phase of expansion saw an additional rail processing track and two rail storage tracks built within the terminal. The addition of 8,000 feet of new rail will meet cargo demands through 2040, SC Ports said.
“Nine years into operations, we are thrilled to be expanding the cargo capacity and rail capabilities at Inland Port Greer to better serve our customers’ supply chains,” SC Ports president and CEO Barbara Melvin said. “We are proud to play a role in supporting Upstate companies’ success. The growth of Inland Port Greer has truly been on the fast track.”
With phase one now completed, the port will now look to phase two, which involves expanding the container yard by 15 acres to the east and the west to handle 50% more cargo. The expansion also involves doubling the size of the existing chassis yard capacity and building new facilities for heavy lift maintenance and terminal operations. The full project is slated for completion in winter 2024.
The more than $30 million expansion is funded by both SC Ports’ revenues and a portion of a $25 million BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) grant. The grant was awarded to the S.C. Department of Transportation for its Upstate Express Corridor Program.
“The expansion of Inland Port Greer adds more space for containers and trains to meet the capacity needs of our customers,” said Ed Stehmeyer, SC Ports’ general manager of projects and design. “The goal of the terminal expansion is to bolster the Upstate intermodal infrastructure supply chain and further develop the inland terminal to handle more cargo for our customers.”
