BNSF opens intermodal facility at Kansas City logistics park

BNSF Railway Co. yesterday held a grand opening ceremony for its Logistics Park Kansas City (LPKC) intermodal facility in Edgerton, Kan.

LPKC is a more than 1,550-acre, master-planned distribution and warehouse development anchored by the $250 million intermodal facility, the third BNSF terminal to anchor a logistics park. The Class I helped pioneer the logistics park concept, which calls for using an intermodal facility to anchor a development of adjacent distribution centers to reduce supply chain costs, truck miles traveled, energy consumption and emissions, BNSF officials said in a press release.

The 433-acre LPKC facility nearly doubles the railroad's lift capacity in the K.C. market, which has developed into one of the most strategic transportation hubs in the nation, they said. The terminal has an initial annual lift capacity of 500,000 containers and trailers and can be expanded to 1.5 million units.

The facility features six 8,000-foot tracks for loading and unloading intermodal trains; more than 1,800 parking spaces; five wide-span, electric gantry cranes; an automated gate system for trucks entering and exiting the terminal; a biometric driver identification system; and digital cameras to record images of containers and equipment.

LPKC is the only full-service BNSF terminal in the western two-thirds of the United States offering domestic and international intermodal services, and direct-rail/carload service, BNSF officials said.

"[Our] significant investment in this new facility will not only make this one of the most efficient intermodal facilities in the country, it will also help enhance the Kansas City region's position in the global supply chain by offering shippers more capacity and service options," said BNSF Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Matt Rose.