LAZARO CARDENAS, Mexico: July 09, 2018. APM Terminals at Lazaro Cardenas on Mexico’s Pacific Coast has begun a weekly block train to Mexico City following a successful pilot programme.

Two block train services were successfully tested - one to Mexico City and another across the US border to Houston - to prove the terminal was a viable alternative to Long Beach and Los Angeles for distribution to inland US destinations.

Now, with an established fixed weekly departure, the transit time to Houston is six days, the same as the rail service from Los angeles, according to the company.

APM says its Lazaro Cardenas semi-autonomous terminal has seen an increase to eight vessel calls a week since it opened in February 2017.

With two rail mounted gantry cranes to speed up vessel discharge, the terminal has its own rail Customs inspection facility with 34 dedicated bays and is a 24-hour operation providing a congestion-free turnaround and fast Customs processing time in partnership with logistics provider Damco.