Iowa Northern Railway Co. plans Manly, Iowa intermodal hub

Iowa Northern Railway Co. (IANR) is developing a transportation hub in Manly to provide shippers and producers in the region with a new logistics and intermodal facility.

Intermodal freight transportation involves the moving of goods through several modes of transportation, including trucks, ships and trains.

The railway company, headquartered in Cedar Rapids, is still in the planning phases for the Upper Midwest Transportation Hub, which will be on the Manly Logistics Park in Worth County. IANR is planning to turn 28 acres that was formerly used as a transloading and distribution site into the intermodal facility, which could be open by 2014.

"This facility would  assist domestic and international companies by providing a competitive cost and transit solution to getting their goods to market safely and effectively," said Amy Homan, director of carload marketing.

The entire project will cost about $54 million and will be completed in four phases over five years. The site also will include a steel distribution center, which will be built by Sukup Manufacturing Inc. of Sheffield, and an area for intermodal and container stuffing for food and agricultural products.

A large rail yard has been built by IANR, and a new 15,000 foot loop track is under construction.  The $6 million loop track - the first IANR has built - will allow trains to move, unload and load more efficiently, Homan said.

She added that the loop track will be in use by late summer.

Formed in 1984, the IANR line runs diagonally through Iowa from Manly to Cedar Rapids.