Last year, the Port of Los Angeles completed more than 1 million on-dock rail lifts— a 23 percent increase compared with 2004 and double the number of lifts completed in 2002. The rail lifts represented a quarter of the port’s total container lifts compared with 20 percent in 2004, 19 percent in 2003 and 16 percent in 2002.
The nation’s largest container port operates four on-dock facilities that serve six container terminals through a 57-mile network of tracks. Each day, the port loads 10 to 12 trains with containers — the equivalent of 2,500 trucks.
“Efficient rail service is critical to the future of this port,” said L.A. Harbor Commission President S. David Freeman in a prepared statement. “Moving cargo by rail instead of by truck cuts down on air pollution.”
The port’s rail lifts totaled 823,620 in 2004, 760,764 in 2003 and 549,062 in 2002.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
