Infra Insight Blog

On January 22, the Port of Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approved construction of an on-dock rail facility that will allow the faster movement of cargo with lower environmental impacts, port officials said in a press release.

The new Pier B on-dock facility will allow more containers to be placed directly on trains at marine terminals. Currently, the ability to build long trains within the Port is limited due to the lack of adequate yard tracks and the configuration of mainline tracks.

Because no cargo trucks are involved in these moves, the new facility will have environmental benefits. The Final Environment Impact Report for the project estimates that it will result in an overall reduction of an estimated 158,000 miles of truck traffic daily, or 11,000 fewer truck trips compared to the future No Project Alternative.

Pacific Harbor Line, the Port’s designated operator has converted its fleet to clean diesel locomotives, which reduce air pollution and save fuel.

The facility will be located southwest of Anaheim Street and Interstate 710.

The next steps on the project are completion of preliminary design and the Board's consideration of a baseline budget for the project.