BNSF unveils $1.5B 'Barstow International Gateway' plan to change California cargo system

BNSF Railway Co. aims to invest more than $1.5 billion in a new Barstow facility that expands its role as an economic anchor in the High Desert and transforms the way global cargo moves across the U.S. from Southern California ports.

The private-railroad giant owned by Berkshire Hathway Inc. announced its plans for a "Barstow International Gateway" driven by "clean-energy powered cargo-handling equipment" at an all-day event Saturday meant to celebrate Barstow's 75th year as an incorporated city.

The expected date of completion isn't clear, and some regulatory hoops remain before construction can begin, but BNSF said the project will span about 4,500 acres on the west side of Barstow with a new "rail yard, intermodal facility and warehouses for transloading freight from international containers to domestic containers," according to a company statement.

The company also predicts that this project will create 20,000 "direct and indirect jobs," though it's unclear how many of these jobs will be in Barstow versus those at the two cargo-receiving hubs connected to the site, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

In a statement, BNSF president and CEO Katie Farmer said, "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.

“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," Farmer continued.

The current system of moving international cargo from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach centers on trucks hauling 40-foot shipping containers to warehouses in either Los Angeles or the Inland Empire, according to BNSF's website. The goods in those containers are sorted and reloaded onto 53-foot containers, then trucked to a Los Angeles railyard to be transferred by train or simply driven by truck across the country.

"This process creates inefficiencies and unnecessary truck trips within the Los Angeles Basin and Inland Empire," the website states.

The plan is for the Barstow International Gateway to change this by allowing cargo to be transferred from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach directly to Barstow via rail through the Alameda Corridor.

A rail facility would transport these containers to Barstow, where they would be moved onto trains headed across the U.S. The new intermodal facility would exist to transfer the containers between rail and "transload warehouses" using electric yard trucks. The purpose of the transload warehouses would be for "repackaging and processing goods arriving at the Intermodal Facility from international containers into domestic containers," BNSF states on its website.

The company has support for the plans from Gov. Gavin Newsom's Office of Business and Economic Development, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and the City of Barstow.

"Rail plays a critical role in moving goods safely and efficiently, while reducing emissions due to congestion in many of our high-traffic corridors," stated Trelynd Bradley, a deputy director at the governor's business and economic development office.

The City of Barstow will develop an environmental-impact analysis for the project as required by the California Environmental Quality Act, which is one hurdle that must be met before construction can begin.

"BNSF is working directly and collaboratively with affected property owners," the company said in reference to Barstow locals living near the proposed site.

The project won't require any physical changes to facilities at the Port of Los Angeles or Port of Long Beach. According to BNSF, the project is a private investment and won't rely on taxpayer funding.

"This facility will bring thousands of jobs to Barstow, while increasing equity, opportunity and the economic competitiveness of the high desert," Barstow City Manager Willie Hopkins Jr. said in a statement. "BNSF has been an important part of our city since its inception and on this 75th anniversary, we are proud to partner with them to ensure our success in the future."

Charlie McGee covers California’s High Desert for the Daily Press, focusing on the city of Barstow and its surrounding communities. He is also a Report for America corps member with The GroundTruth Project, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and around the world. McGee may be reached at 760-955-5341 or cmcgee@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @bycharliemcgee.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: BNSF unveils $1.5B plan to build railway for international cargo