Rail services at Port Houston are improving connectivity for customers in Houston and other markets, including Dallas, TX, another key freight hub, with a population of 7.6M. To support demand and provide enhanced services for our customers, Port Houston is now offering weekly intermodal services from Barbours Cut Container Terminal.

Port Houston owns and manages the 8 public terminals in the Houston Ship Channel, including Barbours Cut and Bayport Container Terminals.

Direct rail access at Barbours Cut Terminal is supported by two railroad providers, Union Pacific (UP) and Burlington Northern Railroad and the Santa Fe Railway (BNSF). UP services support 11 destinations in the U.S. with the ability to load intermodal containers directly onto railcars to Oakland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Marion (IL), Chicago, Kansas City (MO), Los Angeles, Santa Teresa, El Paso, Laredo, Dallas and Phoenix with arrivals Sunday – Thursday and departures Monday – Friday.

BNSF’s intermodal services through its Pearland Intermodal Facility provide connectivity between Houston, Dallas, Amarillo, and Hudson (CO). The BNSF rail schedule includes arrivals on Saturdays and Sundays and departures on Tuesdays from Barbours Cut.

“Based on vessel arrival, these new intermodal service schedule updates have the potential to increase in frequency to meet growing intermodal demand at the Port of Houston,” BNSF said in feature on trains.com. 

These intermodal offerings will not only save customers time, but also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Railroads are roughly four times more fuel efficient than trucks.

Port Houston continues to invest in its facilities to support growth and make improvements to increase capacity. This includes $1.7B in landside investments in our facilities over the next five years.

To learn more about Port Houston’s facilities, visit us here.