ALAMEDA CORRIDOR RAIL LINK OPENS

ALAMEDA CORRIDOR RAIL LINK OPENS    After more than two decades of planning and five years of construction, the $2.4-billion Alameda Corridor freight rail expressway opened last Friday in southern California.
   The 20-mile corridor consolidates four railroad branch lines serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and eliminates more than 200 crossings where rail and street traffic conflict.
   Operations were scheduled to open yesterday (Monday).
   The Alameda Corridor was built by the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, a joint powers authority governed by the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
   The corridor is now operated by a partnership between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad.
   The Alameda Corridor is a series of bridges, underpasses, overpasses and street improvements that separate freight rail, passenger and street traffic.
      “By more efficiently linking the ports on the San Pedro Bay with the transcontinental rail network, the Alameda Corridor will greatly enhance American trade with the Pacific Rim, strengthening both the regional and national economies,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta.
   “Its successful completion demonstrates what we can accomplish with innovative financing and public-private cooperation,” he added.
   Public authorities believe that the corridor will ease traffic congestion and significantly reduce air and noise pollution from idling trains, trucks and cars. The project stretches through eight cities along a 20-mile route. The centerpiece is the Mid-Corridor Trench, a below-ground trainway running parallel to Alameda Street for 10 miles.
   Today, there are 20 to 35 daily train trips on the branch lines serving the ports, with trains averaging 10 to 20 mph, the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority said. The Alameda Corridor is designed to accommodate the 100 daily train trips to and from the ports projected for 2020, with trains averaging 30 to 40 mph.
   The Alameda Corridor was funded through public and private sources, including $1.16 billion in revenue bonds, a $400 million loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation, $394 million from the ports and $347 million in grants administered by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
   Bond debt service will be paid with fees collected from the railroads for the transportation of cargo containers outside of Southern California.
   In March, ocean carriers of the eastbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement and Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement announced that they would pass on to shippers the per-container intermodal charges they incur in using the new Alameda Corridor. Shipping lines or their rail carriers will pay $15 per 20-foot loaded container, $30 per 40-foot loaded container and $5 per empty container in user fees to utilize the new rail link.