Cristobal introduces on-dock rail links

The facilities came on-stream with the inaugural shipment of containers being transported by rail from the port’s container storage yard to the PPC-operated Port of Balboa on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. These containers were then transported by vessel to their final destination on the west coast of South America.

Alejandro Kouruklis, general manager of PPC, said, “PPC’s on-dock rail facilities at the Port of Cristobal provide the maritime industry with a timely and cost-efficient link between the two coasts of the Panama Canal. The new service is operated on a 24-hours-a-day basis, seven days a week, allowing global shipping lines operating in the region to significantly reduce their associated transportation costs by using the ports of Balboa and Cristobal as one port of call.”

PPC is a member of the Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group, a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL).