rail

Barstow City Council Approves BNSF's $4 Billion Gateway Project

The Barstow City Council has greenlit BNSF's $4 billion Barstow International Gateway project. The transformative 4,500-acre integrated rail facility on the city's west side will feature a rail yard, intermodal hub, and transload warehouses designed to shift freight from international to domestic containers. The facility will span 206 miles of track, 52 miles of fencing, and include 35 bridges and major culverts. Containers from Los Angeles and Long Beach ports will route directly to trains via the Alameda Corridor and BNSF's main line to Barstow. Zero-emission equipment will process containers before staging them eastbound across BNSF's network. Westbound freight consolidation will improve efficiency for trains returning to coastal terminals. BNSF projects the facility will eliminate approximately 205 million truck miles annually by 2028, representing a significant shift from trucking to rail.