RailEx Co who sends refrigerated produce unit trains from Delano and Washington to the East Coast will double the number number of trains moving once a new 10,500 ft rail spur is built to their 225,000sf Delano cold storage complex. The City of Delano received a $1.8 million grant to build the $3.5 million rail spur last September.
When built the big project will add 302 jobs in Delano over the next 6 years says Economic Development Specialist Angelica Castro.
A city report says the Delano RailEx already employs 180 and would add payroll worth $15 million annually with the additional jobs.
The report says the company ships about 4500 rail cars annually and wants to increase shipments to 15,000 refrigerated cars per year by 2015.
The new rail spur – off the main Union Pacific line – will not just feed RailEx but be connected to more city-owned industrial land available for development says Castro. In this way, the spur will act as an incentive to get more jobs for the community says Castro.
RailEx says the added trains will head to a new Florida hub being built by RailEx – adding this destination to the NY hub they already have.
Castro says the new Delano rail spur should break ground by April in and be ready to use by harvest season. The new Jacksonville Florida hub is expected to open by June.They also plan a new Midwest hub offering more opportunity for local growers to get to market.
RailEx offers express five-day coast-to-coast service for produce shippers helping California grown produce to get to Eastern and now South Eastern population centers faster and with fewer emissions.