High Speed Rail in the San Joaquin Valley (Santa Barbara: live in, costs)

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

You know what we really need? High Speed ferries!!!! No traffic, no rail lines to build, just open water from Santa Monica to San Francisco!

Now that is a good idea.

Of course all the contractors left out of the plan would not contribute to the politicians they have for high speed rail.

[sacreole]

I supported the high speed rail initiative 10 years ago but have developed voter's remorse since its passage. To date, this project has taken 20+ years overall with very little to show for it other than viaducts through Fresno. Given that the starter alignment is between San Francisco and Los Angeles, I don't know why the high-speed rail authority didn't consider using existing state right-of-way along Interstates 5 and 580. The peer review of the California project by other high-speed rail operators in China and France also suggested the Interstate 5 alignment due to the lower costs and fewer eminent domain takings.

I believe that the money devoted to this project would have been better spent in upgrading and expanding the existing inter-city (Amtrak) and commuter rail network (Caltrain, Metrolink, ACE, Coaster and SMART systems), building a passenger rail link over the Grapevine and roadway improvements.

[KC6ZLV]

Originally Posted by sacreole

I supported the high speed rail initiative 10 years ago but have developed voter's remorse since its passage. To date, this project has taken 20+ years overall with very little to show for it other than viaducts through Fresno. Given that the starter alignment is between San Francisco and Los Angeles, I don't know why the high-speed rail authority didn't consider using existing state right-of-way along Interstates 5 and 580. The peer review of the California project by other high-speed rail operators in China and France also suggested the Interstate 5 alignment due to the lower costs and fewer eminent domain takings.

I believe that the money devoted to this project would have been better spent in upgrading and expanding the existing inter-city (Amtrak) and commuter rail network (Caltrain, Metrolink, ACE, Coaster and SMART systems), building a passenger rail link over the Grapevine and roadway improvements.

HSR wasn't passed until 2008. That's 10 years ago. Actual construction didn't start until 2015. Why? Because considerable legal effort was put forth to delay and increase expenses.

I-5 wasn't used because the whole idea of the project was to provide HSR to the cities up and down the state. There isn't much in the way of cities along I-5 in the San Joaquin Valley.

The issue with Amtrak is rails have to be shared with freight trains. Amtrak doesn't have private rails, so if UP decided to leave something on the tracks Amtrak is effectively shut down until they decide to move it.

[janellen]

There will be on-demand, door-to-door driverless cars 50 years before California finishes its trillion dollar magic miracle choo-choo project.

There will likely be warp drive space ships returning from distant galaxies before they finish this train.

[phantompilot]

Originally Posted by MidnightStar0522

Just curious how people feel about the High Speed Rail that is going from Fresno to Madera - oh, sorry, will 'eventually' go from LA to San Francisco.

Would like to get some ideas whether I'm the only one who thinks it's crazy or what. Maybe some ideas from people who like the idea and will give me reasons.

How about a general shout out about the wonders of living in the San Joaquin Valley? This is a great place to live.

Its typical leftist lunacy. Literally a train to nowhere. Well, to be accurate...a train FROM nowhere TO nowhere.

[Finper]

Originally Posted by phantompilot

Its typical leftist lunacy. Literally a train to nowhere. Well, to be accurate...a train FROM nowhere TO nowhere.

Not no where..... it's going from the tomato fields to the tomato fields

[Californiaguy2007]

This State and Country is so behind compared to East Asia and Europe in regards to High Speed Rail...I read somewhere that Texas is also gonna be building their High Speed Rail too.

Originally Posted by janellen

There will be on-demand, door-to-door driverless cars 50 years before California finishes its trillion dollar magic miracle choo-choo project.

There will likely be warp drive space ships returning from distant galaxies before they finish this train.

[CaliRestoration]

Originally Posted by Californiaguy2007

This State and Country is so behind compared to East Asia and Europe in regards to High Speed Rail...I read somewhere that Texas is also gonna be building their High Speed Rail too.

The difference is the Shinkansen in Japan is a beautiful, easy, and comfortable experience operated by privately owned companies. I've ridden on it from Tokyo to Kagoshima, absolutely beautiful experience.

The reason it became privately owned is because the government agency that handled the Shinkansen before totally ruined it in the 80s with cost overruns, inefficiency, and in general a poor ride experience which lead to poor ridership numbers. Totally mismanaged and the whole thing almost went bankrupt by the late 80s. Which brings me to my next point...

CA High Speed Rail, PHASE 1, is already slated to cost $11 billion to transport people who live in the middle of nowhere to another spot in the middle of nowhere.

Phase 2 through Phase 5? I'm going to guess the cost will balloon into the hundreds of billions since that's where the actual hardwork will be.

High Speed Rail in the U.S should be built, planned, and administrated by privately owned companies if you want it to have a chance at succeeding.

CA DOT and Caltrans? It will either never be built, or be a complete financial disaster.

[sacreole]

Originally Posted by KC6ZLV

HSR wasn't passed until 2008. That's 10 years ago. Actual construction didn't start until 2015. Why? Because considerable legal effort was put forth to delay and increase expenses.

I-5 wasn't used because the whole idea of the project was to provide HSR to the cities up and down the state. There isn't much in the way of cities along I-5 in the San Joaquin Valley.

The issue with Amtrak is rails have to be shared with freight trains. Amtrak doesn't have private rails, so if UP decided to leave something on the tracks Amtrak is effectively shut down until they decide to move it.

I'm well aware that the HSR bond was passed in 2008 and that actual construction has been recent; however, HSR has been in the planning stages since the 1990s. If you read the HSR initiative, the train is supposed to have a running time of about 2 hours and 40 minutes between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It would therefore make sense to run the starter line along the I-5 corridor. Then, once that's up and running, spur lines could extend to other cities in the San Joaquin Valley.

And yes, I'm aware that Amtrak must share the right-of-way with freight trains. The State and the Joint Powers Authorities that oversee the three intrastate Amtrak routes have been working with Union Pacific to make the necessary improvements such as double tracking and sidings so that the Amtrak trains can run more efficiently and timely.

[Adriatica]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

CA DOT and Caltrans? It will either never be built, or be a complete financial disaster.

Construction has already started. You can see the HSR bridge over the San Joaquin river when you're on 99. But I share your doubt in whether or not it will be finished/successful.