December 18th, 2025 – The Port of Long Beach is placing a strong bet on rail and intermodal infrastructure as it works to capture more discretionary cargo moving between Asia and the U.S. interior. Speed from ship to rail is becoming a decisive factor, and port leadership sees inland connectivity as central to future growth.
Noel Hacegaba, currently the port’s chief operating officer, was confirmed this week as Long Beach’s next CEO. He will assume the role on January 1st following the retirement of Mario Cordero. As CEO, Hacegaba will guide a long-term strategy focused on improving rail velocity and strengthening the port’s competitive position on Asia–U.S. trade lanes.
Discretionary cargo remains highly competitive, particularly freight destined for major inland hubs such as Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, Atlanta, and Columbus. This cargo can move through either West or East Coast ports, with routing decisions often driven by total transit time from origin to destination. Ports that can efficiently transfer containers from vessels to trains are better positioned to win that freight.
At Long Beach, the cornerstone of this strategy is the Pier B on-dock rail support facility. Construction began in 2024 and will continue in phases through 2032. Currently, containers take nearly four days on average to move from ship to train. Once Pier B is fully operational, the port aims to reduce that time to 24 hours or less.
Recent performance data highlights the opportunity. In November, rail containers moving through the Los Angeles–Long Beach port complex spent an average of 3.73 days on dock. Improving rail velocity would free up terminal space, ease congestion, and effectively expand overall port capacity.
The port is backing its rail focus with significant investment. More than $2 billion of its planned $3.2 billion in capital spending over the next decade is dedicated to rail-related projects, underscoring how central intermodal growth is to Long Beach’s long-term outlook.
Rail plays an outsized role at the port, with roughly two-thirds of containerized cargo moving to destinations east of the Mississippi River, primarily by train. West Coast ports maintain a time advantage for cargo originating in Northeast Asia, where trans-Pacific routes are at least two weeks faster than East Coast routings via the Panama or Suez canals.
That advantage has narrowed as production shifts toward Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. From those regions, East Coast ports such as New York–New Jersey, Norfolk, Charleston, and Savannah often offer faster ocean transit. However, cargo bound for Midwest markets must still move inland by truck or rail, adding time to the overall move and keeping those destinations competitive for West Coast gateways with strong rail access.
When completed, Pier B will expand from 82 acres to 171 acres and more than triple on-dock rail capacity, increasing throughput from 1.5 million TEUs to 4.7 million TEUs annually. The facility will also support longer trains, locomotive servicing, and more efficient assembly and breakdown of intermodal traffic.
Long Beach is also looking to extend its inland reach through projects such as BNSF Railway’s proposed Barstow International Gateway, which would support transloaded and intact intermodal shipments to smaller interior markets. Together, these investments reflect a clear strategy: faster rail connections, greater inland access, and a stronger position in the discretionary cargo market.
