NOLA.com / The Times Picayune
USA Rail Terminals, LLC announced Friday (Feb.6) plans to open a West Baton Rouge rail facility and industrial park. It will be only facility in the Baton Rouge area receiving multiple unit trains, officials.
According to the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, which announced the facility with USA Rail and the West Baton Rouge Chamber Friday, the facility will have the capability to manage the movement of single car loads, as well as complete unit train shipments. It will also have capacity to store more than 1,200 rail cars.
“We are very excited to become part of the Greater Baton Rouge business community. Our decision to come to this area was based on our appreciation of the unique business environment and the people that live here. We look forward to serving the surrounding industry and its transportation needs,” said Steve Roth, executive vice president of USA Rail Terminals, LLC.
USA Rail Terminals will create 43 new direct jobs in the Baton Rouge area, representing over $10 million in capital investment in the new facility.
“We are most pleased to welcome USA Rail Terminals to West Baton Rouge Parish. This is a project we have been involved with from the very beginning, and an important win not just for our parish, but for the whole region too! Rail is an important economic development component and we are excited that a rail terminal will be an enhancement in our parish’s tool kit,” said Kathy Stuart, West Baton Rouge Chamber executive director.
“This is a double win for the region as it represents new job creation, and a facility that will spur further economic development,” said Adam Knapp, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.