The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co (BNSF) and Port of Oakland (CA) have reached an agreement for BNSF to operate the port's newly built Joint Intermodal Terminal, to be known as Oakland International Gateway. BNSF will also be able to provide service to other third parties at this facility, and will take more than 20,000 truck moves a year off Interstate 80, including those handling ISO tank containers.
This 85-acre, near-dock facility has capacity to accommodate 250,000 containers per year initially and the capability to expand.
Oakland International Gateway also has 13,300 feet of loading and unloading track that can handle 410 40-foot containers at a time. The facility also contains an additional 10,100 feet of storage and support tracks and parking for 1,245 containers. Total construction cost for the facility is $38 million, with $22.1 million coming from federal grants through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and TEA-21 funding.
Oakland International Gateway will tie into BNSF's rail network by way of trackage rights and specific access conditions approved by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to BNSF as part of the 1995 Union Pacific/Southern Pacific Merger Settlement Agreement.