BNSF Wins Approval for $4bn Barstow Intermodal Facility in California

US freight operator BNSF Railway has secured approval from Barstow City Council for a $4bn rail facility in California's high desert, west of Barstow.

The Barstow International Gateway (BIG) will cover 4,500 acres and create capacity for 60 trains east of Los Angeles. The $4bn investment represents nearly BNSF's entire 2026 capital expenditure commitment. The project is projected to create approximately 5,400 direct jobs over 20 years, according to Los Angeles Business Journal.

The facility will include a rail yard, intermodal terminal and transload warehouses. The site is located in California's Inland Empire region, a major logistics corridor serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. BNSF frames the project as private investment in freight capacity expansion.

The approval follows years of planning for the facility, which will handle container traffic moving inland from West Coast ports. The 4,500-acre footprint makes it one of the largest single rail infrastructure investments in the United States in recent years. The 60-train daily capacity will support intermodal operations linking maritime and inland distribution networks.

BNSF Railway, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, operates one of the largest freight rail networks in North America. The Barstow facility will serve as a key node in the operator's transcontinental network, handling containers destined for markets across the western and central United States. Construction timelines and phasing details were not disclosed in the approval announcement.