Alameda Corridor passes 35% capacity

Alameda Corridor passes 35% capacity The five-year-old Alameda Corridor reports it is now operating at just over 35 percent capacity, with 55 freight trains moving an average of 13,600 TEUs daily.
   The 20-mile-long rail expressway, which speeds container trains from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to the transcontinental rail yard near downtown Los Angeles, is expected to generate more than $95.6 million in user fees and container charges in the next 12 months, according to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority’s 2008 budget.
   “We don’t see any major disruptions ahead, but we’ve still budgeted conservatively,” ACTA President John Doherty told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “We anticipate another year of strong growth.”
   The six-member ACTA governing board unanimously approved the $107.5 million budget last week, with $27.1 million in expected capital expenses and $80.4 million dedicated to debt service payments for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
   The 17-staff member agency oversees the railway's budget and expenditures. The agency itself is overseen by a seven-person governing board whose members include the executive directors of the two ports, a commissioner from each port's boards, a city councilperson from both Long Beach and Los Angeles, and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
   According to the new budget, ACTA collects $18.04 per TEU that moves along the railway, with fees ranging from $4.57 to $9 for bulk freight, breakbulk and non-waterborne containers.
   During its first full year of service, an average of 39 trains a day utilized the railway. Last year, the average was up to 55 trains per day. Despite the corridor having a maximum design capacity of about 150 trains per day, most of the still-unused capacity is to handle projected port volume increases through 2020.
   The $2.4 billion project, which opened in April 2002, handles nearly 30 percent of the total daily TEU volume of the two neighboring ports.