Media. News. Announcements.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Salem, Oregon
September 19, 2026
OREGON PORT OF WILLAMETTE DEVELOPING INTERMODAL RAIL YARD NEAR WOODBURN
Oregon Port of Willamette (OPW) is developing a fully entitled, permit-ready, and contractor-ready Intermodal Rail Yard near Woodburn, Oregon. Our mission is to provide Oregon’s import and export shippers cost- and time-efficient transportation solutions.
Timing is ideal since Terminal 6 at the Port of Portland is currently operating with limited ocean container capacity and the Northwest Container facility in Portland has recently shut its doors. This leaves shippers with no other option but to truck their products 500 miles, round trip, to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
This project is designed to help Oregon’s agricultural community export products more efficiently, along with retail importers and exporters. The OPW yard is located near the 3.8 million square foot Amazon fulfillment facility near the Interstate 5 interchange and has direct rail access via the Portland & Western Railroad and the BNSF Railroad.
Rail service agreements have been executed with both Portland & Western Railroad and BNSF Railroad, who will provide dedicated train service to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma with unit trains between 6,500 to 8,000 feet in length and carrying up to 300 containers each way.
Phase 1 of the project will be located on 300 acres, which includes an administrative office, mechanical shop, truck driver restrooms, and container storage. Once the rail yard is completed, Phase 1 will begin operations with two 8,000-foot rail tracks and two electric rail-mounted gantry cranes with a rail-to-truck transload facility. This phase will have the capacity to load and unload unit trains arriving from SEATAC, as well as empty container storage, agricultural export loading, and truck-to-rail service for imported goods. Once loaded, containers will be placed on northbound trains for overseas export.
Phase 1 will have an annual capacity of up to 150,000 forty-foot containers.
Phase 2 includes a third 8,000-foot rail track which increases annual capacity to 300,000 forty-foot containers.
OPW organizers are currently engaged with a US-based international investment bank that is raising the remaining capital for the construction, which is anticipated to begin the first quarter of 2027, with opening in the 4th quarter 2027.
For more information contact: Stew Stone, Development Director at stewstone@portofwillamette.com
Rob Smith, Director of Transportation & Logistics at rob.smith@portofwillamette.com
September 18, 2026 – Oregon Port of Willamette / WIG
Historically, the Port of Portland handled more than 160,000 forty-foot containers annually. However, following a series of longshore labor disputes over a decade ago, most of the major ocean carriers shifted their services to other West Coast ports. Those carriers have not returned in any meaningful capacity, and containerized cargo that once moved through Portland has largely been redirected through ports such as Seattle, Tacoma, Oakland, and Los Angeles/Long Beach. The recent closure announcement of NW Container Services, which was served by Union Pacific Railroad, now places an even higher demand on more expensive trucking to Seattle & Tacoma.
This shift has created a structural change in the Pacific Northwest supply chain. A significant amount of freight that historically would have moved by rail or ship through Portland now travels by truck after arriving at West Coast Ports, Seattle & Tacoma. As a result, inland logistics, container storage, and intermodal transfer capacity have become increasingly important parts of the supply chain.
Third-party marketing report highlights this imbalance and reinforces the broader conclusion that there is substantial demand for efficient inland container handling and distribution solutions in the region. Even though precise shipment counts are difficult to document through port records alone, the underlying freight flows, warehouse growth, and rail activity all point to the same conclusion: the demand for inland container logistics infrastructure remains strong.
May 18, 2026 – The Northwest Seaport Alliance
The Northwest Seaport Alliance, Husky Terminal Prove Speed Advantage with First Port of Call