WASHINGTON – Union Pacific and BNSF Railway are contracting out dispatching of the Alameda Corridor to a neutral third party.
The 16.1 mile grade-separated corridor, which leads to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., handled an average of 31 trains per day in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority.
Union Pacific currently dispatches the corridor with BNSF oversight; BNSF previously dispatched it with UP oversight. Next month they will turn over dispatching to Alameda Belt Line, a jointly owned subsidiary, according to a regulatory filing with the Surface Transportation Board.
“ACTA, BNSF and UP have determined that subcontracting railroad operations oversight to ABL … will foster balanced and efficient train operations, and will promote traffic fluidity over the Line under an entity that would be equally accountable to both of the Line’s users,” according to the Alameda Belt Line filing.
The corridor stretches from CP East Redondo to CP West Thenard, where the Pacific Harbor Line takes over. PHL is the neutral switching railroad that handles BNSF and UP traffic within the port complex.
The corridor is owned by the ports. The Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority manages the line’s infrastructure.
