GPA Opens Gainesville Inland Port with $134 Million Investment

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, together with Hall County officials and Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) executives, led the official opening ceremony of the Gainesville Inland Port, a terminal that required a $134 million investment. The event took place on October 29 and included the participation of port customers and local leaders.

The terminal, which spans 104 acres according to FreightWaves, offers direct rail service with Norfolk Southern between Gainesville and Savannah five days a week, giving businesses in the region an alternative to the roughly 600-mile round trip by truck. The inland port's operational opening had taken place on May 4, ahead of October's formal ceremony. Through this connection, customers gain access to the approximately 40 weekly vessel calls received at the Port of Savannah.

The Georgia Ports Authority projects shifting 26,000 containers to rail during the terminal's first year of operation, aiming to reduce truck traffic and emissions on Georgia's highways, including the Atlanta region. GPA has not yet released volume data handled at Gainesville since its opening. The facility has an annual capacity of 200,000 containers at full build-out and offers direct access to Interstates 85 and 985.

Northeast Georgia is a growing manufacturing and logistics corridor, with a consumer market of 2 million people and more than 300 manufacturers. Since 2020, 78 new or expanding companies have added more than 4,800 jobs and $2 billion in capital investment in Gainesville-Hall County, where manufacturing, processing and logistics account for 33% of the workforce. The terminal currently handles a mix of consumer and retail goods along with manufacturing components on imports, while exports include agricultural, forestry and manufactured products.

GPA funded $4.8 million in roadway improvements in Hall County, which included the removal of an at-grade rail crossing, the rerouting of White Sulphur Road, and the repaving of Cagle Road, in order to streamline local traffic and ensure access for emergency vehicles. The Gainesville Inland Port is part of a nearly $5 billion ten-year expansion plan by the Ports Authority, which includes five new container berths in Savannah and a RoRo berth in Brunswick, in addition to the future Savannah Container Terminal, construction of which will begin in 2028 with a capacity of 3.5 million TEUs.