BNSF to offer expedited intermodal service between Pacific Northwest, Texas

BNSF Railway Co. will roll out this Monday an intermodal service linking the Pacific Northwest markets of Seattle and Portland with Texas that the railroad said would shave two days off the current transit times in the market.

Under the service, southbound shippers can expect deliveries on the morning of the fifth transit day at BNSF's intermodal facility north of Fort Worth, Texas. Expedited hauls northbound will arrive in the Northwest on the morning of the sixth transit day, Fort Worth-based BNSF said.

BNSF said the service would be comparable in speed to long-haul truckload deliveries made by a solo driver.

The western U.S. railroad said the service, which is timed to coincide with the Northwest's fall fruit harvest, is the first of several new routes that will be introduced over the next year.

BNSF said the new service was made available by leveraging underutilized capacity in the central section of its vast network. The network's midpoint is around Denver.

The service will operate Monday through Friday in both directions, BNSF said.