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Last week, the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority (ACTA) repaid a federal loan owed on the 20-mile corridor — 28 years early. ACTA paid the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) $573 million for the $400 million loan plus interest in low-interest bonds before the 2032 deadline to save about $65 million.

"In 1997, we invested in a project that had a strong vision for the future that included two compelling new concepts — intermodalism and innovative financing," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta in a prepared statement. "Now, seven years later, we are seeing how much the Alameda Corridor is contributing to the local, national and global economy."

The repayment indicates the project's initial success and revenue-producing potential, USDOT officials believe. Each day, 35 trains loaded at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach move through the corridor. By 2020, the number of daily trains using the corridor — which is designed to accommodate up to 150 daily trains — is expected to surpass 100.

Opened in April 2002, the $2.4 billion corridor connects the ports with downtown Los Angeles rail yards. The project eliminated more than 200 grade crossings and halved container trains' transit time between the ports and downtown to about 45 minutes.