Port of Long Beach Receives $283 Million for ‘America’s Green Gateway’
The Port of Long Beach will receive $283 million from the federal government to assist in building “America’s Green Gateway,” a rail project which will enable one of the nation’s busiest seaports to move more cargo by trains, speeding deliveries across the entire national supply chain, easing congestion and lessening local environmental impacts.
The funding was awarded for the Port’s Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mega Grant Program. The $1.567 billion project is the centerpiece of the Port’s on-dock rail construction improvements.
Moving cargo by on-dock rail – directly moving containers to and from marine terminals by trains – is cleaner and more efficient, as it reduces truck traffic. When the new facility opens, no cargo trucks will visit. Instead, smaller train segments will be brought to the facility and joined together into a full-sized train.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said, “The Pier B Rail project represents a vital infrastructure investment that will improve the Port of Long Beach’s sustainability and efficiency, bringing us up to 35% on-dock rail capacity in our terminals and improving the air quality for our residents.”
“The impact this funding will have on developing this project of national importance is staggering,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “This is a facility that will help move cargo more efficiently to homes and businesses across America, and from U.S. producers to overseas markets, resulting in systemwide benefits to the supply chain.”
Due to the key role of the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility as part of the national supply chain, the port continues to seek funding partners for the project. The California State Transportation Agency – CalSTA – in July 2023 announced a grant of $158 million from the Port and Freight Infrastructure Program to help fund the Pier B project as an important part of the state’s cargo movement strategy. The federal government previously awarded almost $105 million to the project. To date, the Port has secured more than $640 million in grant funding for Pier B.
Construction is expected to begin this year. The new facility will more than double the size of the existing Pier B rail yard from 82 acres to 171 acres and more than triple the volume of on-dock rail cargo the port can handle annually, from 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 4.7 million TEUs. The yard will also feature a depot for fueling and servicing up to 30 locomotives at the same time and a full-service staging area to assemble and break down trains up to 10,000 feet long. The overall project will be built in phases, each improving cargo flow, with completion by 2032.
