Posted on 11/10/2004 3:09:09 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California High Speed Rail Authority officials unveiled a tentative map of routes for the proposed statewide bullet train on Wednesday - a plan that includes a 120-mile, nonstop stretch between Bakersfield and Fresno.
That Central Valley section of the line, which was recommended by the authority's staff, bypasses Visalia despite the city's pleas for a stop.
The 700-mile system, with 200 mph-plus trains, would cost about $35 billion and carry as many as 68 million passengers a year by 2020. Voters will decide a bond measure in 2006 to pay for part of the project. Construction on major parts of the electric train system could start in 2008.
Visalia officials, bothered by the thought of the state's major transportation project zooming by at 200 miles per hour, asked that the city not be dropped from the map.
The city was slighted in two ways - two routes from Fresno to Bakersfield had been considered, with one running through Visalia and the other through Hanford, in Kings County to the west. The staff recommended that the rail follow the Hanford route, but also suggested that the 120-mile stretch run nonstop.
Visalia City Councilman Jesus Gamboa asked the High Speed Rail board consider that the populations of Tulare and Kings counties are growing at a faster clip than the rest of the state.
"Without a high-speed rail station in Visalia, eventually 1 million people will be underserved," Gamboa said.
The city has until December, when a final vote is made on the routes, to persuade board members to include Visalia.
If successful, the city stands a good chance of competing with Hanford for the route, said Glenn Morris, executive director of the Visalia Economic Development Corp. said.
In September, the board unveiled proposed routes in the Los Angeles area. The board will make a final vote on all routes in December.
The map unveiled Wednesday included the routes from Sacramento, through the Central Valley to Bakersfield, and routes from Los Angeles' Union Station to downtown San Diego. It also included the Bay Area routes - where trains are proposed to start in Oakland and at San Francisco's Transbay Terminal and run south to San Jose.
The staff also recommended to nix a spur that would run from Mira Mesa to San Diego's Qualcomm Park because the panel's goal has been to locate the high speed rail stations near airports and city centers whenever possible.
The Qualcomm station would be several miles from downtown San Diego, and would require extensive tunnels under a congested city to link the heart of the city and the airport to the train.
Instead, the staff recommended that the high speed rail run from Mira Mesa to a station in downtown San Diego, which is less than two miles from the airport.
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On the Net:
California High Speed Rail Authority: http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/
For info, click on the image below.
More likely, it'll cost $200 billion, run at 68 mph, and carry 35 people a day.
This is such a waste of time and money. It is simply way too expensive to build a rail line over the Tehachapi's and the enviro wacko's will never let one go along the coast.
The politicos in Sacto like studying this since it makes them feel good, and it generates campaign bucks from planning & engineering firms.
Stick with SW Air.
Labor unions love pork like this.
Why don't they just buy used buses from Mexico including drivers...
The only good thing about this is, after the big one it'll all be gone.
Might as well we have enough Mexican's here to operate them. As long as it's all in Spanish.
Why on earth would I want a faster way to get to Bakersfield?????????????
Modern tunneling techniques and high horsepower electric locomotives enable several new routes through the Tehachapis that were unavailable to the SP and ATSF a century ago. The new routes are more direct and thus cheaper.
This is such a waste of time and money.
It's far less than the cost of upgrading and building new airports to meet the state's future transportation needs.
Stick with SW Air.
SouthWest Air is basically a capacity parasite on the national air infrastruture. The excess capacity is disappearing. Airplanes also don't run on nukes or hydro, enriching nations that I'd rather see impoverished...
SSUUURRREEEEE it will!. Quadruple the cost, and divide the annual ridership by ten, and you might have something closer to the truth.
Japan, which has more frequent and stronger earthquakes, has had only one earthquake-related failure on the Shinkansen -- happened last month, no major injuries.
Statewide bullet train???????
It totally misses more than 40% of the state.
As you can plainly see, Northern California does not even exist in the eyes of those from Sacramento Kalifornia and points south.
doesnt' california have budget problems? 3 billion for stem cells and now this? Government run transportation rarely works. California's Amtrack...
wider freeways will serve the people best.
High speed rail is technology the US should embrace and implement. There should be a 20 year Long Range Plan to connect major metropolitan areas using satisfactory existing rail lines and building new dedicated lines.
Chicago to Indy in 2 hours, then down to Atlanta in 4 and Jacksonville FL in 8 or 10 hrs. That is the same amount of time it takes to drive to O'hare, sit and wait, board, sit, fly, sit, wait, drive to your hotel...
There is literally NO city in Japan that can't be reached by train. A first class ticket from Tokyo to Nagano is $30 plus you get real food on board. European (spit) rail is also efficient in cost and scope.
Rail reduces pressure on the Interstate system, reduces cargo costs and reduces air travel costs IF we can make it attractive to the "GET ME THERE NOW" crowd...
I say President Bush should outline the plan and just dare the US People NOT to do it!
G
Actually, Amtrak California already exists. They fund existing services between San Jose and Sacramento, Oakland and Bakersfield, and a few SoCal trains. The trains have been so successful that they've added service over the past six years; they'd add more if they had the track capacity between SJ and Sacto.
I thought only Willie Green was allowed to post rail-project threads. ;)
What, you don't like Buck Owens? ;-)
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