Union Pacific Railroad has submitted a $300 million proposal to upgrade its massive intermodal container yard near West Long Beach, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports.
The modernization plan seeks to double the facility’s container-handling capacity while replacing nearly all the yard’s diesel trucks and gantry cranes with electric-powered equipment.
Approval is required from the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Commission.
“The goal of this project is to improve the environmental impact of this facility, while supporting the growth of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” UP Chairman Jim Young said in a statement.
The near-dock freight yard, known as the Internodal Container Transfer Facility, currently handles an estimated 700,000 containers annually. Containers are delivered to the site by truck, then loaded onto trains heading inland.
Upgrades would allow the facility to reduce lighting, noise and air pollution by investing in new yard equipment, locomotives and trucks. The plan calls for using special electric cranes to stack containers and employing hoods to direct light away from area homes.
