Rail Served Intermodal Terminals in Rural Regions: Challenges and Opportunities

Rail intermodal service has been growing in the U.S. over the past thirty years. Recently U.S. domestic rail intermodal operations have been growing at a faster pace than international service. Can the new dynamic of growing domestic intermodal traffic provide opportunities for the development of smaller intermodal terminals in rural areas of the U.S.? This paper discusses the challenges, such as lane balance, frequency of service, minimum lifts, and terminal consolidation by class 1 railroads that rural regions face in establishing an intermodal terminal and service. Examples of successful and unsuccessful rural intermodal service are explored.