Accessibility

From Here to Anywhere
New Castle County offers convenient transportation by water, land or air

Yes, we have bananas at the Port of Wilmington – boatloads of them, in fact.

With transportation options that include a deep-water port, railroads, major highways and nearby airports, New Castle County is a gateway to the world.

Whether unloading ships filled with bananas being imported from Central America and steel from China and Russia, or loading ships with cars and dairy cows being exported to the Middle East and Africa, the Port of Wilmington helps fuel Delaware’s economic engine, says Thomas Keefer, executive director.

Port of Plenty

“The port is a significant asset for the local and regional economy,” Keefer says. “It is Delaware’s link to the globalized economy and the global supply chain.”

The port, which has accommodated ships on the Delaware River since 1923, is visited by more than 400 vessels and handles about 5 million tons of import/export cargo each year. Owned and operated by the Diamond State Port Corp., it generates $24 million in annual taxes for state and local governments and 5,800 jobs in Delaware with annual wages of $235 million, Keefer says.

The port plans to invest $11.4 million in reconstruction of Wharf Unit 2, Berth 4, and recently it built a $16 million warehouse for Dole, whose business makes Wilmington the top banana port in the world.

The port features the country’s largest dockside cold-storage facility and also offers a quarter of a million square feet of dry warehouse space.

Wilmington is General Motors’ hub for exporting vehicles to the Middle East and is also the port of entry for Volkswagen automobiles from Europe and Mexico, Keefer says.

Shippers can easily reach Interstate 95, I-295, I-495 and the New Jersey Turnpike as well as the rail lines of Norfolk Southern and CSX.

“With access to two railroads and the I-95 corridor, you leave the port and you don’t hit a red light until you reach your destination, even if it is hundreds of miles away,” he says. “We have overnight access to one-third of the consumers in America.”

Train Stations and Airports

More than freight moves smoothly to and from New Castle County.

Amtrak provides extensive passenger rail service from Wilmington, which is the location of Amtrak’s operations center. Passenger service also is available in Newark.

Philadelphia International Airport, one of the nation’s major air hubs, is within a 30-minute drive of Wilmington. Also accessible by a longer trip down I-95 is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Corporate aircraft are heavy users of New Castle Airport. Director Stephen D. Williams says nearly 70 business jets and 220 propeller aircraft are based there. In addition, Williams says, some cargo operators are considering using the facility for their operations.

“The airport is an anchor of New Castle County’s efforts to attract and sustain business and industry, as well as a gateway for the business community to gain access to the nation,” Williams says.

Story by Bill Lewis
Photo by Stephen Cherry