Study Cites ‘Immediate Demand’ for Dockside Rail

In the latest vision of Long Beach’s future, dockside trains would be loaded with containers taken directly from ships and would whisk their cargoes through Long Beach on new, quieter tracks.

While the merits of dockside loading onto trains have been debated for years, this newest scenario would include some protection for noise-weary Long Beach residents, said Harbor Commission President David L. Hauser.

Protection From Noise

He said that sound barriers and continuously welded rails would protect residents, some of whom live within 50 feet of the track, from the clatter of passing trains. Railroad bridges would be constructed over South Street and other major intersections so traffic would not be impeded.

The plan was outlined this week by Hauser in conjunction with a new study, conducted by the port’s staff and outside consultants. That report states that there is an “immediate demand” for dockside rail at four container terminals. Both the port construction and rail line improvements could be made in about three years, the study says.

Hauser said the $150,000 study backs what port officials have been saying for months: Dockside rail is imperative for ports that want to stay competitive.

With on-dock loading, cargo containers do not have to be first loaded onto trucks before going to trains. Shippers say they like that idea because deleting trucks from the ship-to-train transit line saves money.

But to accomplish that in Long Beach would not be cheap. The recommended plan in the report calls for five grade separations between the port and Anaheim Street, along with other improvements that total $48.5 million. In addition, the costs to the container terminals would total another $18 million, the study states.

Hauser said that construction of sound barriers, rebuilding track and other sound- and traffic-mitigation measures along the Union Pacific line through Long Beach could cost another $40 million to $50 million.

Although the report mentions the possibility of charging a fee for every container to offset construction costs, it does not specifically address how the port can pay for the improvements, Hauser said.

The Union Pacific improvements could be made between two and 12 years ahead of a plan by the Southern California Assn. of Governments to build a consolidated rail system to handle all train traffic from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. That plan would use Southern Pacific tracks and take the trains north through Wilmington and Carson, avoiding most residential areas.

The port commission is under pressure to make some hard decisions about dockside rail.

Hearing May 16

After a postponement in February to allow time for the port study, a hearing is set for May 16 on an application by International Transportation Service to enlarge its dockside rail operations. Long Beach Container Terminal also has informed port officials that it will begin the process toward development of on-dock rail.

The report states that by 1993, the dockside rail plan could lead to 29 trains coming in and out of the port every week, eliminating 8,976 truck trips a week on the freeways.

Hauser said that Tacoma, Wash., has dockside rail already and that other West Coast ports are considering it. Hauser added that Long Beach port officials hear persistent rumors that neighboring Los Angeles has container terminal operators who are anxious for their own dockside rail services, but a Port of Los Angeles spokesman said there has not been an official request.

But some Long Beach commissioners say they are hesitant about on-dock loading.

Commissioner Joel Friedland said he remains concerned about the traffic snarls that could be caused as long container trains snake in and out of the harbor. He said he also wants assurances that every container terminal operator would have equal access to on-dock rail.

Commissioner Louise M. DuVall said she, too, has reservations. “It’s a trend being utilized by other ports, but we don’t have the land,” DuVall said.

Container terminals will have to find space on their own properties to build rail yards where trains can be loaded and assembled, Hauser said. But he added that congestion problems in the port are solvable by building grade separations and realigning roads.

As trains head inland, Hauser said, they would use the modified tracks on the Union Pacific route.

Councilman Warren Harwood, previously a vocal dockside rail critic whose district includes the Union Pacific track, said he might be amenable to dockside rail if track improvements are made through neighborhoods.

Would Use Tracks

He noted that if the Port of Los Angeles allows its container terminals to develop their own dockside rail terminals, they would use the Union Pacific tracks through Long Beach.

Since Long Beach officials have no control over the Port of Los Angeles, Harwood said, track improvements in Long Beach would “protect our community from increased rail traffic we might otherwise be impacted by.”