South Carolina Ports (SC Ports) has announced it will expand Inland Port Greer following sustained record activity at the rail-served inland port in Upstate South Carolina.
In a statement, SC Ports said the Inland Port Greer extends the Port of Charleston’s reach 212 miles inland via Norfolk Southern rail service, enabling companies throughout the Southeast and Midwest to quickly receive import goods and move export products to overseas markets.
The expansion of Inland Port Greer is supported, in part, by a $25 million BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) grant.
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the BUILD grant to the S.C. Department of Transportation to help fund the Upstate Express Corridor Program, which includes both the expansion of SC Ports’ Inland Port Greer and the lengthening of Norfolk Southern’s Greer Lead Track and Carlisle Siding Track.
SC Ports Board Chairman Bill Stern said, “We are very appreciative of the support we received from S.C. Governor Henry McMaster, our Congressional delegation, state leaders, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the S.C. Department of Transportation in securing this BUILD grant to expand this critical port-related infrastructure.”
The expansion of Inland Port Greer involves building additional rail processing and storage tracks within the terminal, expanding the container yard to the east and west, enlarging the existing chassis yard, and building new facilities for heavy lift maintenance and terminal operations.
More than half of SC Ports’ $63.4 billion annual income in South Carolina already occurs in the upstate region. Investing to expand Inland Port Greer will drive more port-related growth in the region, SC Ports said.
The additional capacity means more companies will locate near this critical infrastructure hub, driving jobs and economic growth for the Upstate.
SC Ports CEO Jim Newsome said the company’s investments will provide “more capacity and efficiency”, which will attract more companies to the region.
The BUILD grant also supports the expansion of Norfolk Southern’s Upstate rail network.
These improvements include lengthening the lead track alongside the mainline track outside of Inland Port Greer in Greer, as well as providing additional capacity to the passing/ siding track in Carlisle, S.C., to accommodate longer trains carrying cargo to and from the Port of Charleston.
These complementary efforts will allow for additional container capacity for customers at Inland Port Greer, and additional rail infrastructure to enhance rail capacity and efficiency.
