It would cost between $300 and $700 million to upgrade the San Diego-Plaster City line to class 3 or 4 standards. This is why they only chose to reopen the line at the lower standard. If a major $20-30 billion port is to be financed and developed, then this cost would not be such an obstacle.

A direct rail alignment to PC from any of the connections listed is a real problem. The best route may well end up being to connect through Tecate, by going up the Pacific Coast to Ensenada, then through the inland valleys to Tecate. I believe this route was surveyed for rail at one time (1910's). The Cordiellera in the Baja back country includes some ten thousand foot alpine mountains ranges. These are virtually vertical mountains, with few easy gradient approaches. That's one reason there are virtually no roads that way, either. If anyone knows a secret route that doesn't hit about 150 miles of this range, I'd like to know what it is.