Port of Oakland to move more cargo via rails

Speaking at a meeting of the North American Rail Shippers Association, Mr Lytle said that the port is working to make this a reality.

“We have two outstanding partners at the Port in the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads,” Mr Lytle told the annual meeting of the North American Rail Shippers Association. “And everyone in Oakland would like to see more cargo move in and out of the city on the rails than over the road.”

Mr Lytle said that Oakland had a record year for loaded container volume in 2016, but stressed there is potential to grow trade via the railways.

He said ports rely on railroads or trucks to transport ocean shipments to-and-from the docks, but both major West Coast railroads operate at far less than capacity in Oakland. He explained this is due to the port’s primary market for containerized cargo in Northern California being served by trucks, but that Oakland’s rail profile could improve soon due to investment at the port.

Last year the port completed a USD$100m rail storage yard with 41,000 feet of tracks close to Oakland marine terminals. Mr Lytle said this could facilitate 100-car grain trains transferring cargo to containers for ocean transport.

Another opportunity lies with the opening of the 300,000-square-foot refrigerated Cool Port Oakland, which will rely on meat shipments being transported from the Midwest US in rail cars. Opening in mid-2018 and able to handle 36 refrigerated rail cars at one time, Mr Lytle stressed that the facility will be a main player in the export of beef, pork and chicken to Asia.

He added that developments next to the port could be an important source of business for the rail yard and help develop more rail traffic.