Alameda Corridor

Prior to the construction of the Alameda Corridor, cargo traveling by rail to or from the ports of Los Angeles or Long Beach had to take a circuitous route that was over 90 miles long, traveling out to the west side of Los Angeles, before turning back east towards the ports. Meanwhile, the route had more than 200 street-level railroad crossings, many inadequately protected, where automobiles had to wait for lengthy freight trains to pass often times causing serious accidents.

The ports formed the Alameda Corridor Transit Authority to use the newly acquired right-of-way to build a freight rail “expressway” from the ports to the major railyards near Downtown Los Angeles. The centerpiece of the new Alameda Corridor is the “Mid-Corridor Trench” – a below-ground, triple-tracked rail line that is 10 miles long, 33 feet deep, and 50 feet wide. The trench and the larger Alameda Corridor allow freight trains to travel 40 miles per hour without concerns of grade-crossing collisions or having to blow their horns as they travel through neighborhoods. Today, 15% of the nation’s container traffic travels through the Alameda Corridor.