BNSF Announces $1.5 Billion Barstow International Gateway

BNSF has announced early this week that they plan to invest over $1.5 billion in a 4,500-acre rail facility in Southern California. This will be known as the Barstow International Gateway. This state-of-the-art rail facility will potentially help with the California container congestion as well as create new jobs, direct and indirect, in the area.

This facility will include a railyard, intermodal facility, and warehouses for transloading international to domestic containers. Essentially, containers coming into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will be directly transferred from ships to trains, sent to Barstow International Gateway, and built into trains to then move eastward. A similar process will be executed for trains arriving from the east and heading to the ports.

Katie Farmer, president and CEO of BNSF said: "By allowing for more efficient transfer of cargo directly between ships and rail, the Barstow International Gateway will maximize rail and distribution efficiency regionally and across the U.S. supply chain and reduce truck traffic and freeway congestion in the Los Angeles Basin and the Inland Empire," She also noted, “This will play a critical role in improving fluidity throughout our rail network, moving containers off the ports quicker, and facilitating improved efficiency at our existing intermodal hubs, including those in the Midwest and Texas.”

With BNSF being one of North Americas leading freight transportation companies, there is no doubt that this state-of-the-art facility will add support to the development of the region’s port networks. Although it has not been stated when this project will commence, more information can be found on their website:

https://bnsfcalifornia.com/barstow-international-gateway-project/