Submitted Photo A unit train carrying containers sits at the Minot intermodal site last October. A Senate bill to create a $15 million intermodal transportation assistance program is important to the future of Minot’s shipping facility, according to bill supporters. SB 2245 would provide grants for purchasing infrastructure assets, property and equipment. John MacMartin, president of the Minot Area Chamber EDC, said about $10 million is needed for his organization to purchase intermodal assets held by financial institutions and expand the intermodal site infrastructure into BNSF Railway’s Gavin Yard. Due to lack of track to support a unit train on a single rail, the intermodal service is operating with provisional BNSF approval. To grant longer term approval, BNSF is requiring an expansion of the existing infrastructure to be completed by August 2021.