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Re: California High-Speed Rail: Some Views From the Valley
Author: mook
Date: 08-02-2014 - 14:01
Rosamond is in Kern County. The only proposed HSR stop in Kern County is in Bakersfield. So commuters would have to drive to Palmdale like they do now (or to Lancaster, for Metrolink).
More I think about it, the more I question a Palmdale stop (separate from consideration of the route itself) unless certain other things also happen. Key point: it's in Metrolink's service area. For practical purposes, HSR would need to arrange things so they don't carry passengers between points in the LA Basin or out as far as Santa Clarita or Palmdale to avoid messing with Metrolink's traffic. Except possibly for airport stops, the first place to get off after leaving LA-area stops would have to be Bakersfield, and nobody would be able to board between Bakersfield and LA.
Those "certain other things" are not guaranteed, nor even likely in the near future. They include: upgrading KPMD to a full-scale commercial airport (not just an air force base with a couple of commuter flights a day); or connection to a Las Vegas or other HSR in the High Desert. Frankly, I think the latter is more likely than the former, though neither is anything to take to the bank.
More I think about it, the more I question a Palmdale stop (separate from consideration of the route itself) unless certain other things also happen. Key point: it's in Metrolink's service area. For practical purposes, HSR would need to arrange things so they don't carry passengers between points in the LA Basin or out as far as Santa Clarita or Palmdale to avoid messing with Metrolink's traffic. Except possibly for airport stops, the first place to get off after leaving LA-area stops would have to be Bakersfield, and nobody would be able to board between Bakersfield and LA.
Those "certain other things" are not guaranteed, nor even likely in the near future. They include: upgrading KPMD to a full-scale commercial airport (not just an air force base with a couple of commuter flights a day); or connection to a Las Vegas or other HSR in the High Desert. Frankly, I think the latter is more likely than the former, though neither is anything to take to the bank.
