BNSF: Customers spent $4.2B on facilities in 2024

BNSF Railway Co. customers invested more than $4.2 billion in 2024, the largest yearly amount the railroad's customers and local economic development organizations have spent on new or expanded facilities in the past six years.

Significant investments were made from supply chain partners and customers, including CJ Logistics America, Hudson Asphalt Terminal (HAT), and Bakersfield Renewable Fuels (BKRF), BNSF officials said in a press release.

As a result of those and other customer investments, BNSF projects supported the creation of more than 1,000 new jobs in local communities. New developments supported various intermodal, industrial and agricultural commodities in communities across the BNSF network.

Details of some of the projects include:

• CJ Logistics, a prominent supply chain services provider, expanded its operations with the construction of a new 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse near the BNSF Logistics Park Chicago in Elwood, Illinois. This facility is part of a $457 million investment by the Korea Ocean Business Corp.;

• HAT invested $25 million to open an asphalt storage and distribution facility at BNSF’s Logistics Center in Hudson, Colorado; and

• BKRF acquired a former petroleum refinery located in Bakersfield, California. BKRF repurposed the facility to receive a variety of oilseed commodities, including camelina oil for the production of renewable diesel targeted at the California market. The BKRF facility has undergone significant rail infrastructure enhancements, including rehabilitating existing tracks, adding a crossover, and extending track lines to improve operational efficiency, with one track designated for BNSF to spot cars and another for pulling.