Nebraska International Port Of The Plains Inland Port Authority Board discuss progress on rail park

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – The Nebraska International Port of the Plains discussed the progress on the rail park on Tuesday afternoon.

The discussion centered on the progress of the future Lincoln County rail park located near Hershey. Further discussions centered on a track line that belonged to the Greenbrier Rail Company; the transportation company halted operations in Hershey in 2020, sending 24 employees home.

The company had rail access to re-manufacture, inspect, repair, and assemble rail car wheels, roller bearings, and wheel car assemblies; one of the company’s key clients was Union Pacific. The rail access and facility formerly occupied by Greenbrier.

The Nebraska International Port of the Plains, the entity has the goal of not only having surrounding companies import and export supplies in and out of this facility when completed but to also storing railcars there. As for Nebraska International Port of the Plains chairman Vince Dugan, the reality of this is becoming more and more real.

“Everything is becoming a lot more real. I think we want to coordinate, we want to understand. I think I have a better understanding than I have ever had during the entire process. what we are talking about doing is exactly what the airlines and air carriers do. The airport does not employ the people that take everything off, and the airlines go through a third party, and companies do that, and that is exactly what you are talking about doing with the rail spur,” Dugan said.

The Inland Port Authority discussed tracks that once belonged to the Greenbrier Rail Company but also the products that local businesses could import to the rail park. The board has said that small products will help improve local businesses in distribution as well as their production.

“It’s becoming quite clear to me, and also, I like the specialty product thing because what do we know about specialty products? You get more money for them, you get more value, and that could jump-start us before we consider commodity value products because one thing is for sure we are not going to be the barrier to a successful venture; we are going to make it happen,” Dugan said.

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