Reminds me of the Alameda Corridor out here in Los Angeles. It's a three-track trench that runs from Redondo Junction downtown down to Carson (just North of the accesses to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Before that, there was so much surface traffic that it backed up street traffic in several cities. The BNSF surface route was sold off for light rail as it ran right by the Los Angeles International Airport; the SP (now UP) surface routes are still in use for local customers, but the traffic is much lower so the cities aren't screaming about all the trains.
