We can't afford the Coast Daylight, or any other major rail corridor improvements in CA. It seems that we've chosen to piss away all of the CA rail funds we might have able to use, on "visions"...….

The Coast Daylight has been in the State Rail Plan since the late 1980's, in one permutation or another, as has the service extension to Salinas, and the LOSSAN north improvements. We've done study after study from folks better quality firms like Cambridge Systematics on the needed improvements.

We've done competent studies which have identified the several billion in total improvement on segments of the Coast line, for added services on both ends that would accommodate more LOSSAN, Daylight, and Capitol Corridor services, as well as the phasing. Hell, in a few cases, we've even began various project funding planning processes, with even a wee small bit of work actually done, or like the Salinas extension, funded.

No, UP is not being that unreasonable, with this list of things, needed also to make all of the existing Coastline services, and any future additional services, much more reliable and efficient. There has simply not been adequate MONEY available and/or allocated for those improvements and new services.

We've had attempts to buy the Coastline for the State, to expand passenger service. We've had efforts like Neil Petersen's (MTA) and Richard Katz's (then Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee) efforts over 25 years ago. We even looked at a plan to run "tilt trains" or Danish 110 equipment (I was on several test runs of that equipment), in an "all day" "hourly" "daylight" service, in under a 6-1/2 hour scheduled run time, between LAUPT and SF.

This was back in the early mid 90's when Anschutz offered the State the Coastline for just $400 million dollars, long before the UP merger, and the most useless CA transportation Governor, of my lifetime, useless Pete Wilson, basically told him he could G-F himself.

Can you imagine what the Coastline is worth today?

We clearly could use (and could have used for the last 25 years) more frequent, faster, and more reliable service along the now permanently gridlocked US 101 Corridor. We have a population base that could easily support 12 trains a day.

Unfortunately, we decided under Governor Ahnold, to withdraw all of the local "shovel ready" LOSSAN and Coastline improvements from the 2008 rail bill grants and the stimulus and instead only to fund the CAHSRA "runaway money train" fiasco... The project from Hell, which as you've all noticed continues to suck up all available funds, just like the "un-dead" incompetent corrupt "zombie" project that we have all come to know.

So there has been no money for Coastline improvements or rail services that have been under planning for in some cases over 30 years.

Now, all of you paid hacks at the CAHSRA and other "visionaries" are free to respond.

You can tell everyone how backward I am, in pushing more affordable projects, that might be of some actual use and value, to taxpayers, stuck in some of the worst gridlock in the world. sometime in our actual lifetimes, because I am just so stupid, that I don't "see the vision"....

And, all of you hacks under contract at the CAHSRA, can do it on our taxpayer supplied nickel and dimes... While we're all 'nickel and dimed", at the gas pump, while being "stuck in traffic"....

As Pogo once noted, "We have met the enemy... and, he is us...."