Long Beach : Ground Broken for $54-Million Port Rail Yard

Construction of a $54-million rail yard that is expected to enhance trade at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles officially began Tuesday with a ground-breaking ceremony.

The project, a milestone because it is the first joint development by the competing ports, should be complete by spring, officials said.

The 150-acre Intermodal Transfer Facility, located in Wilmington at the northern tip of the Los Angeles port just south of the 405 Freeway and east of Alameda Street, will save shippers millions of dollars a year by eliminating 600 to 830 daily truck trips now necessary to move cargo 25 miles from the ports to the Los Angeles railroad yards, supporters say.

With the new yard, freight containers from ships will be hauled the three to five miles by truck, loaded onto railroad cars, then shipped throughout the country.