Port Manatee’s railroad keeps tradition of connectivity on track

Carrying on a tradition of Tampa Bay area rail connectivity that dates back to the 19th century, Port Manatee owns and operates a short-line railroad linking its docks with a Class I network of tracks reaching 23 states plus two Canadian provinces.

With its pair of energy-efficient diesel-electric locomotives and capacity to accommodate 300 railcars, Port Manatee Railroad encompasses more than seven miles of tracks directly connecting with a main line of Jacksonville-based CSX Transportation, which boasts a total of 20,000 route miles of railway throughout the eastern half of the United States plus the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

While undoubtedly better known for the proficient operations at its 10 deepwater ship berths, Port Manatee aptly augments its intermodal capabilities with the namesake short-line railroad, available to port users on a 24/7 basis.

Florida-based companies are among U.S. exporters relying upon Port Manatee Railroad to consistently deliver commodities such as lumber, linerboard and fertilizer to ships that then carry the goods to global markets.

Port Manatee Railroad serves inbound cargo activity as well, including stepping up to the plate to serve emergency demands when they arise. Perhaps the most notable such incidence occurred as historic droughts struck the Midwest in 2012 and 2013, and Port Manatee Railroad transported shipments of hundreds of thousands of tons of corn from Brazil and Argentina that provided Midwestern farmers with much-needed corn to feed livestock.

Whereas orange juice that arrives from Brazil by vessel at Port Manatee is transported in food-grade tanker trucks (not by rail) for the short trip to Tropicana’s home facility in Bradenton, Tropicana’s famous Juice Train dates back to the early 1970s in bringing the company’s popular products to consumers up and down the East Coast and beyond.

In fact, Florida has a storied history of rail service extending back into the 1800s. While Henry Flagler was busy bringing his railroad to Miami and, in the early 20th century, onward to Key West, another rail pioneer named Henry – Henry Plant – was opening the Gulf Coast of Florida to development with his own railway reaching the shores of Tampa Bay in the 1880s. From there, Plant’s own steamship line provided international transportation capabilities.

Port Manatee, this year celebrating its 50-year anniversary, is young by comparison, but the link between railcars and oceangoing vessels endures along Tampa Bay and the Florida Gulf Coast.

Indicative of modern times, Port Manatee Railroad operates in concert with the port’s wide-ranging commitment to environmental sustainability. Since deployment in 2014 of its two “green” locomotives, secured in large part through a $2.5 million federal grant, the port’s railroad operation has realized reductions of as much as 90 percent in emissions of nitrous oxide and particulate matter.

The strategic importance of multimodal connectivity along the shores of Tampa Bay is undeniable and is yet another factor in the positive impact of Port Manatee on our region’s socioeconomic prosperity, to the tune of more than $3.9 billion a year, with the port directly and indirectly generating more than 27,000 jobs.

9In today’s challenging times and always, let’s all stay on track to be safe and be well.

Carlos Buqueras is executive director of Port Manatee.