New shipping lines boost Tacoma volumes

Container handling through July reached 146,010 teu, accounting for an overall 4% improvement; imports and exports showed continued gains, with full containerised imports rising nearly 16% and exports jumping 5%.

The port’s rail project was given a boost this month (August), when President Barack Obama announced a project to improve mainline rail connections near the port as one of four to be expedited by the federal government.

The Point Defiance Bypass in Tacoma will relieve chokepoints near the port by re-routing passenger rail services and improving the flow of cargo to and from the port. The project has already received US$91m from the US Department of Transportation.