BNSF to build $4B rail facility in California

Dive Brief:

• BNSF Railway will move ahead on its plans to build a $4 billion Barstow International Gateway project in California’s Inland Empire after receiving approval from the Barstow City Council, according to a June press release.
• The project, dubbed BIG, is planned to be a 4,500-acre rail facility that includes a rail yard, intermodal facility, and transload warehouses. The warehouses are designed to move eastbound freight from international containers to domestic containers. The facility will also consolidate westbound freight to help improve efficiency for trains returning to ports and other California terminals, per the release.
• Construction will begin later this year with a target of late 2028 for the facility to open, a BNSF spokesperson told Supply Chain Dive in an email.

Dive Insight:

The $4 billion investment from BNSF intends to strengthen the supply chain by relocating containers for sorting and processing from congested port-adjacent communities to Barstow.

“By co-locating shippers and integrating transload, rail, and warehousing operations, BIG lowers total landed logistics costs at scale, driving system-wide efficiency gains that ultimately translate into more affordable goods for consumers across the American supply chain,” a BNSF spokesperson said.

Using the planned gateway, containers that arrive at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach will shift from ocean vessels to trains through the Alameda Corridor and on the BNSF mainline to Barstow, instead of moving by truck to warehouses near the ports.

The handoff from the San Pedro Bay ports helps decrease transit times and increase capacity, BNSF EVP and Chief Marketing Officer Tom Williams said.

In addition, BIG aims to shift more freight from trucking to rail. The move is expected to eliminate about 205 million truck miles in 2028 with more reductions as time goes on.

The rail company has plans to deploy zero-emission rail mounted gantry cranes, hybrid rubber-tired gantry cranes and electric plug-ins for refrigerated units at the Barstow site, per the release.

“By creating a more resilient, efficient, and low-carbon freight system, we’re giving shippers faster, more reliable inland access and greater network fluidity,” BNSF President and CEO Katie Farmer said.

BNSF first announced BIG in 2022 and was subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review process, a company spokesperson said. “CEQA is a comprehensive and often lengthy process that includes environmental analysis, public review, and agency coordination before projects can move forward.”

Currently, the project faces opposition from environmental groups such as Sierra Club, Earthjustice and Natural Resources Defense Council, according to a Sierra Club press release.

The conservation and environmental justice groups have sued the city of Barstow for approving the BIG project, citing concerns of air pollution and deterioration of the city’s ecosystem.