Will High Speed Rail Turn The Central Valley Into A Bay Area Bedroom Community? (Fremont: subdivision, tax)

[Dave Coe]

Will High Speed Rail Turn The Central Valley Into A Bay Area Bedroom Community? | Valley Public Radio

[BayAreaHillbilly]

It will make Los Banos more of a bedroom community than it already is. Places further east from that, we'll see. "High Speed" is a bit of a misnomer - from about Gilroy onward they are not going to be moving much faster than CalTrain.

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

It will make Los Banos more of a bedroom community than it already is. Places further east from that, we'll see. "High Speed" is a bit of a misnomer - from about Gilroy onward they are not going to be moving much faster than CalTrain.

There won't be a stop in Los Banos - it's actually specifically prohibited by legislation. So it probably won't have much effect there.

California Streets and Highways Code 2704.09 (d):
"The total number of stations to be served by high-speed trains for all of the corridors described in
subdivision (b) of Section 2704.04 shall not exceed 24. There shall be no station between the Gilroy station and the Merced station."

I'm not sure you're right that there will be no speed improvements beyond Caltrain speed north of Gilroy. I've read that the commute time from Madera to SJ would be 40 minutes. If that's true, that would be pretty revolutionary in terms of opening up commute possibilities. It would be faster to get to work from Madera than South SJ or Fremont for many work locations!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

There won't be a stop in Los Banos - it's actually specifically prohibited by legislation. So it probably won't have much effect there.

California Streets and Highways Code 2704.09 (d):
"The total number of stations to be served by high-speed trains for all of the corridors described in
subdivision (b) of Section 2704.04 shall not exceed 24. There shall be no station between the Gilroy station and the Merced station."

I'm not sure you're right that there will be no speed improvements beyond Caltrain speed north of Gilroy. I've read that the commute time from Madera to SJ would be 40 minutes. If that's true, that would be pretty revolutionary in terms of opening up commute possibilities. It would be faster to get to work from Madera than South SJ or Fremont for many work locations!

OK, so scratch Los Banos.

I would be highly skeptical regarding the 40 minutes Madera to SJ claim. Granted speeds inbound from Gilroy may be a bit higher than Cal Train but not greatly so. I'm expecting typical speeds for express trains on electrified urban systems such as NYC, London, Tokyo, et al.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

OK, so scratch Los Banos.

I would be highly skeptical regarding the 40 minutes Madera to SJ claim. Granted speeds inbound from Gilroy may be a bit higher than Cal Train but not greatly so. I'm expecting typical speeds for express trains on electrified urban systems such as NYC, London, Tokyo, et al.

I'm sure people will fight it. Like they have fought everything with HSR (because heaven forbid we bring the region into the late 20th century infrastructure wise...). But would be pretty great if it operates at it's theoretical in that corridor.

I understand the concerns of operating at high speeds along the peninsula where it's running through crowded/built up areas (although as someone that lives within 3 blocks of the train tracks, and has a great view of them from my window, I say bring them on!I YIMBY?); but south of SJ should hopefully be operating pretty quickly.

If it does, that really opens up some central valley locations to jobs in SJ.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by HockeyMac18

I'm sure people will fight it. Like they have fought everything with HSR (because heaven forbid we bring the region into the late 20th century infrastructure wise...). But would be pretty great if it operates at it's theoretical in that corridor.

I understand the concerns of operating at high speeds along the peninsula where it's running through crowded/built up areas (although as someone that lives within 3 blocks of the train tracks, and has a great view of them from my window, I say bring them on!I YIMBY?); but south of SJ should hopefully be operating pretty quickly.

If it does, that really opens up some central valley locations to jobs in SJ.

For the areas between Madera and Gilroy I'd expect them to run at maximum safe speeds for the grades and curves in question. I'm guessing the average would be something like 130. From Gilroy to the SJ City Limit I'd expect something comparable to Metro North electrics - what's that, maybe 90? Then from there to Diridon probably 80ish.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Dave Coe

Will High Speed Rail Turn The Central Valley Into A Bay Area Bedroom Community? | Valley Public Radio

The proponents of the train no doubt are anti-sprawl yet they market the train to a state that is 400B in debt with the promise of...more sprawl.

[Ruth4Truth]

Let's wait and see if the thing ever gets built at all. By the time it does (if it does), the central valley may have run out of water and become depopulated, anyway.


Really, at this point CA is facing much more pressing needs for its money. Desal, sea level rise mitigation, increased firefighting needs, to name a few.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

For the areas between Madera and Gilroy I'd expect them to run at maximum safe speeds for the grades and curves in question. I'm guessing the average would be something like 130. From Gilroy to the SJ City Limit I'd expect something comparable to Metro North electrics - what's that, maybe 90? Then from there to Diridon probably 80ish.

Yeah, Metro North in NY operates at a max of 89 - that would probably be good for the Gilroy to SJ stretch. From SJ to SF, the Caltrain speed (79) is probably realistic, although it'd be nice if it could operate a little faster in small stretches.

[Perma Bear]

I predict the HSR will be an expensive boondoggle . Might as well give me the tax money. I'll give back better returns with an sp 500 index fund.