Union Pacific will continue its aggressive investment in American transportation infrastructure by reigniting its double-track initiative on the Sunset Route in the Southwestern United States. With an investment of roughly $18 million by the end of this year, Union Pacific will complete the double-tracking of nine miles of this premium line in Imperial County, Calif., and another nine miles in Maricopa County, Ariz., with more work planned for 2011. This project is part of $2.6-billion to be spent by Union Pacific in 2010 to support current and future freight transportation needs of its customers.

Known as the "Stormy" for its wild summer thunderstorms, historians dubbed it the Sunset Route. It has become a vital link in the 32,000-mile Union Pacific system. To respond to returning traffic volumes, Union Pacific is in the midst of an ongoing effort to add capacity to this critical 760-mile corridor between Los Angeles and El Paso. With 24 percent of all freight cars handled by Union Pacific originating or terminating in Southern California, the Sunset Route is a key corridor for North American railroads. Double-stack trains dominate the route, but construction materials including lumber, plywood, steel and cement, are also common cargo. Gasoline additive ethanol is another important commodity, as well as automobiles and automobile parts moving through the Mexican gateways at Nogales, Ariz., and Calexico, Calif.

The Sunset Route is also an important transcontinental route for the package express business, finished automobiles and grain. Less than one-quarter of the Sunset Route had a second double-track when Union Pacific acquired it in 1996 as part of the merger with Southern Pacific. Since then, Union Pacific has built 292 miles of new main line double-track through this corridor to handle the nation's growing freight traffic.