CARSON, Calif. — No injuries were reported when four locomotives and five cars of a Union Pacific train derailed today (Monday, Dec. 23) on the Alameda Corridor route connecting UP and BNSF Railway to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The derailment occurred about 1 p.m. near the intersection of Carson and Alameda streets. Union Pacific said in a statement to KCBS-TV that access to the ports is current blocked “while crews repair tracks and prepare to put railcars and locomotives back onto rail.” No hazardous material spill was reported.
The route handles about 28 trains and 12,300 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) daily, according to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority.
I am unfamiliar, but was there ever more than one route to the port?
Yes, the Harbor Sub which comes out of the BNSF yard and over to El Segundo. It connects with the El Segundo Industrial Lead which comes back east to the UP Wellington Sub at Watts Towers.
I got an email that says the UP San Pedro Industrial Line is still available from the port, but not really setup for long double stacks.
Another reason why railroads should not be putting all their eggs in a single route. They were bragging about how the Chicago CREATE impacts several states, here is a perfect example of how expedience has over ruled risk in allowing not one, but the only two railroads that service the port shoved into a single route out.
Pretty sure it’s 2 railroads (UP and BNSF) on the only way in or out of Long Beach/LA