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Burbank-Palmdale HSR segment priority raised
Author: mook
Date: 07-01-2014 - 11:35
Saw this morning in Rough & Tumble:
Burbank-Palmdale segment added to bullet train timetable -- In a strategic shift to secure new funding for California's bullet train project, state officials intend to accelerate their plans to build a Los Angeles County section of the $68-billion system. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/1/14
Is it just me, or does it seem that CAHSR is pushing perhaps a bit hard on the "easy" segments and ignoring the ones (over and through the mountains at the south & north ends) that have the real long-term payoff (and would cost a lot more $$$ than they can scare up right now)? It made sense to start in Fresno - relatively cheap, definitely needed for HSR, and potentially useful for others if/when HSR dies or is delayed. Extending the Fresno segment southward also makes some sense - relatively cheap for the mileage, and again useful to others more or less as-is. But Burbank-Palmdale sounds more like a Metrolink job, and would probably be as cheap (!) as doing the Peninsula early would have been - and basically useless (other than for Metrolink) unless the rest of the Tehachapi line is built.
Burbank-Palmdale segment added to bullet train timetable -- In a strategic shift to secure new funding for California's bullet train project, state officials intend to accelerate their plans to build a Los Angeles County section of the $68-billion system. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 7/1/14
Is it just me, or does it seem that CAHSR is pushing perhaps a bit hard on the "easy" segments and ignoring the ones (over and through the mountains at the south & north ends) that have the real long-term payoff (and would cost a lot more $$$ than they can scare up right now)? It made sense to start in Fresno - relatively cheap, definitely needed for HSR, and potentially useful for others if/when HSR dies or is delayed. Extending the Fresno segment southward also makes some sense - relatively cheap for the mileage, and again useful to others more or less as-is. But Burbank-Palmdale sounds more like a Metrolink job, and would probably be as cheap (!) as doing the Peninsula early would have been - and basically useless (other than for Metrolink) unless the rest of the Tehachapi line is built.
Burbank-Palmdale HSR segment priority raised