U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg the other speakers all arrived by train car on Thursday, June 18, to take part in the long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony for the Port of Long Beach’s $1.567 billion Pier B on-dock rail facility.
The grand entrance for the open-air gathering of some 500 people also featured a vintage folk soundtrack of train-theme songs.
But the highlight — and purpose — of the gathering was the ground-breaking for the on-dock rail project that’s been in the works at the Port of Long Beach for about a decade and is expected to revolutionize some aspects of how the port operates, bringing more speed and efficiency, and less pollution.
“As times change, so does our business,” Port of Long Beach Chief Operating Officer Noel Hacegaba said as he welcomed the gathering where the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility will be located — now dubbed “America’s Green Gateway.”
The facility will double the footprint of the existing rail yard from 82 acres to 171 acres. It will be built in phases.
The facility, scheduled to be finished in 2032, will allow the port to:
Assemble longer trains, up to 10,000 feet.
Reconfigure existing tracks and add additional tracks to directly connect to on-dock rail facilities and the Alameda Corridor railway.
Support a transition to a more efficient, competitive and less polluting transportation system.
Improve competitiveness by adding on-dock rail capacity to allow more cargo to move with less environmental impact.
It will take some trucks off the road while pushing the number of container units the port handles from about 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units to 4.7 million TEUs a year.
The longer trains will provide more loading and unloading at on-dock rail yards at marine terminals, port officials said, while removing bottlenecks and minimizing the increase of truck trips as cargo volumes grow.
Buttigieg, in his address, recounted telling his toddler twins about his latest trip to California when they asked about his job, saying that “in California they’re making trains that can go to ships and then bring the things to our houses.”
“It’s that simple — and it’s that complicated,” he said of the Pier B vision, which has received major financial support from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill.
Buttigieg and other speakers arrived for the event in a passenger rail car transported by Pacific Harbor Line’s Progress Rail “Joule” zero-emissions switcher engine.
To date, the port has received more than $643 million in grant funds for the project from national, state and local sources.
The U.S. Secretary of Transportation recalled the pandemic years and how ship backups at West Coast ports created lasting images in the nation’s mind.
“Three years ago at this time, we were told Christmas in 2021 would pretty much be canceled,” he said. “But it was very much not canceled.”
Thanks, he said, to the men and women working the docks and making sure goods got to their destinations.
Also speaking was U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach — former mayor of Long Beach — who said perhaps the biggest impacts would be felt on the improved health of the many families living in the areas surrounding the port, who will be able to “breath better and be free of asthma and cancer.”
“This project,” Long Beach’s former mayor added, “is a home run for good jobs, clean air, and a strong supply chain. As mayor, we worked to electrify and green our port, and this major investment will do just that.”
Long Beach’s current mayor, Rex Richardson, agreed.
“The groundbreaking of Pier B marks an important day for the future of Long Beach, signifying our dual commitment to both environmental and economic progress,” Richardson said. “This project will make our port more economically competitive in the coming decades supporting 1 in 5 jobs in Long Beach, improve the health of residents, and create more than 1,100 quality union jobs through construction.”
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