(The following report appeared on the Daily Breeze website on June 28.)
TORRANCE, Calif. — Officials at the Port of Los Angeles have a month to review a new $300 million Union Pacific Railroad proposal to reduce pollution and improve efficiency in and near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
At Union Pacific’s Intermodal Container Transfer Facility, about 5 miles north of the ports, railroad officials plan to replace 10 diesel-powered gantry cranes with 39 electric-powered, rail-mounted cantilever gantry cranes.
Those new cranes will enable the company to remove 71 of its 73 diesel-powered truck tractors. The remaining two diesel trucks will be replaced with alternative-fuel vehicles, according to the company.
The new cantilever cranes will enable operators to more easily stack containers, thereby reducing wharf space needed for cargo.
“This plan will more than double the capacity of ICTF, but more importantly, the plan modernizes the way in which cargo is handled,” said Union Pacific CEO Jim Young. The company said the plan will take several years to implement.
Union Pacific also plans to reduce the time trucks spend waiting at the ports by adding lanes and a new entry system, the company said.
Union Pacific officials submitted their ICTF Modernization Plan to the Port of Los Angeles on Tuesday.