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Re: Coast Is a strong potential rail market and that argument is nonsense.....
Author: mook
Date: 01-26-2017 - 23:23
You didn't read it all, and were just looking for things to diss. The main line (high speed or just decent speed) from LA to the Bay Area will be in the SJV. That's a done deal and it makes more sense. I'm not a fan of The Mouse's hole in the hill, but I'm sure the flyover people (Hyperloop?) would be interested.
LOSSAN proper (between LA & SAN) has the advantage of having tracks mostly in the right place already, in a relatively (compared to the central coast) densely developed corridor, with a lot of 79-90 mph territory already. The line to Santa Barbara doesn't have that, and fixes will be difficult (expensive) given topographic, nimby, and corporate (UP ownership) barriers. Not to mention cowardly politicians in LA.
In the long term, improvements to the coast line are needed IN ADDITION TO the SJV route. It's not either-or. But there's more bang for the buck in the short term (20-30 years) to put the heavy traffic in the Valley.
BTW, that's not to say that more through (in addition to Surfliner at the south end and Capitol Corridor at the north end) service shouldn't be done. Not sure about a reborn Medfly as the next step, but I could see at least 3 through trains a day (current Starlight, and probably replacements for the noon Daylight and the Lark). THAT could probably be done without a huge investment. It's not HSR or even Surfliner-level service, though; more like entry-level San Joaquins.
LOSSAN proper (between LA & SAN) has the advantage of having tracks mostly in the right place already, in a relatively (compared to the central coast) densely developed corridor, with a lot of 79-90 mph territory already. The line to Santa Barbara doesn't have that, and fixes will be difficult (expensive) given topographic, nimby, and corporate (UP ownership) barriers. Not to mention cowardly politicians in LA.
In the long term, improvements to the coast line are needed IN ADDITION TO the SJV route. It's not either-or. But there's more bang for the buck in the short term (20-30 years) to put the heavy traffic in the Valley.
BTW, that's not to say that more through (in addition to Surfliner at the south end and Capitol Corridor at the north end) service shouldn't be done. Not sure about a reborn Medfly as the next step, but I could see at least 3 through trains a day (current Starlight, and probably replacements for the noon Daylight and the Lark). THAT could probably be done without a huge investment. It's not HSR or even Surfliner-level service, though; more like entry-level San Joaquins.
