Harbor Subdivision facts for kids

The Harbor Subdivision is a historic railway line in Los Angeles County, California. It is about 26 miles (42 km) long. This line connects the rail yards near downtown Los Angeles to the busy ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

For many years, the Harbor Subdivision was the main way to move goods between these two important ports and the rest of the national rail network. However, a newer, more direct railway called the Alameda Corridor opened in 2002. This new corridor now handles most of the train traffic. The Harbor Subdivision takes a longer, winding path because it was built in different sections over many years, starting in the early 1880s. It was designed to serve the growing ports and the businesses that developed along its route.

History of the Harbor Subdivision

Building the Railway Line

The Harbor Subdivision was first built to serve Port Ballona and Santa Monica, near what is now Playa del Rey. In 1888, the line was extended to Redondo Beach. This was done when a larger, better port was built there.

In the early 1900s, the San Pedro Outer Breakwater and the Port of Los Angeles became very important. This led to more growth for the railway. By the early 1920s, the line was extended through Torrance, Wilmington, and on to Long Beach. This expansion happened because of the discovery of oil fields in the area. The railway was completed when Watson Yard was developed in Wilmington.

Today, the Harbor Subdivision is mostly a single track. It does not have signals like many modern railway lines. Instead, trains use a system called "track warrant control." This is like getting a special permission slip from a local dispatcher before a train can move. There are a few places where trains can pull over, called sidings. These include "Lairport" near Los Angeles International Airport, "Ironsides" in Torrance, and a longer siding at the Alcoa plant, also in Torrance.

The Harbor Subdivision and Metro Rail

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) now controls the Harbor Subdivision. However, the BNSF Railway still uses it for its trains.

In June 2014, major construction began to change part of the Harbor Subdivision. This section is being turned into a light rail line for the K Line, which is part of the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. For example, the railway bridge over Century Boulevard and Aviation Boulevard was taken down in July 2014 to make way for the K Line. When finished, the K Line will run from Jefferson Park in the north and connect with the Metro C Line in the south. This new light rail service is expected to start by 2021.

Metro has also studied other ideas for the railway. They looked into extending the C Line to Torrance using the Harbor Subdivision. They also considered building a completely new light rail line or even a maglev high-speed rail system.