In the ongoing push to improve cargo flow and reduce truck emissions, the Port of Los Angeles announced on Wednesday, July 10, that it has completed its $73 million on-dock rail expansion project on Pier 400.
Construction began in 2021 and its completion constitutes a major on-dock rail expansion in the Port of Los Angeles.
The yard is near the container terminal operated by APM Terminals. The project added 31,000 linear feet of track, with five new railroad storage tracks, a concrete rail bridge with lighting, an asphalt access roadway, new crossovers and turnouts, and modifications to the compressed air system.
The neighboring Port of Long Beach, meanwhile, will hold a groundbreaking this summer for its ambitious Pier B on-dock rail project, anticipated to be the largest rail facility of any port in the country when finished, said POLB CEO Mario Cordero. The rail facility will serve both the ports of Long Beach and LA, Cordero said during the Long Beach harbor commission meeting on Monday, during which several Pier B-related items were taken up.
The Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility is set to be complete in 2032 and has been hailed as “transformational” by port officials. It will be the centerpiece of a series of improvements that port has been making to its rail network.
Both ports have also tested out a Pacific Harbor Line zero-emissions locomotive for short-haul routes throughout the two facilities.
POLB’s $1.567 billion Pier B project is being built in phases and will more than double the size of the existing Pier B rail yard from 82 acres to 171 acres. It will also more than triple the volume of on-dock rail cargo the port can handle annually.
Likewise, by increasing use of the Pier 400 on-dock rail yard in the Port of Los Angeles, that project will create additional rail capacity for all POLA terminal operators, port officials said.
The Pier 400 yard serves as a link between the San Pedro Bay port complex and the Alameda Corridor, which carries about 10% of all waterborne containers entering and exiting the United States.
“This $73 million rail project will increase cargo efficiency while reducing emissions, a cornerstone of the port’s blueprint for sustainable growth,” Port of L.A. Executive Director Gene Seroka said in a written comment included with the port’s announcement. “Advancing capital improvement initiatives like this are key to ensuring the port remains competitive.”
The Pier 400 work — completed by contractors Herzog/Stacy and Witbeck Joint Venture — also included relocating a portion of the lead track onto Port of Los Angeles property, realigning the track connection to the rail storage yard, modifying Reeves Avenue, and relocating the at-grade crossing from Nimitz Avenue to Reeves Avenue.
The port received $21.6 million in grant funding from the California Trade Corridor Enhancement Program, which funds improving freight corridors in California. The port funded the remaining cost of nearly $51.6 million.
Jon Poelma, managing director of APM Terminals Los Angeles Pier 400, said the operator will be able to handle increased volumes with greater efficiency “across a wider variety of inland locations.”
“This strategic upgrade,” he added, “enhances the Port of L.A.’s attractiveness as a gateway for cargo owners who rely on fast, efficient, and well-connected supply chains to serve their customers.”
APM Terminals Pier 400 is one of the largest proprietary terminals in the world, according to information on the port’s website. Part of Maersk’s transport and logistics business unit, APM Terminals operates one of the world’s most comprehensive port and integrated inland service networks and has been a Port of Los Angeles tenant since 2002.
Rail projects support California’s larger sustainable freight and mobility goals, and meet federal and state grant requirements for major transportation projects to improve air quality, spur job growth, ease congestion, and benefit disadvantaged and low-income communities.
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