The UCS decision is non-binding, although it does send a signal about the RTC’s priorities, as well as where it will be looking for funding.

Perhaps the most concrete impact from the Unified Corridor Study vote is that the county will definitely keep the railroad tracks for at least another 10 years, although the rail line will be getting repairs.

Last week, the RTC also voted to finalize its 10-year contract with Minnesota-based freight operator Progressive Rail, though some commissioners wanted more time to study their options.

The vote to delay came down to the wire, with only five of 11 possible commissioners supporting it.

Because of the new contract, in a few years, there could be freight trains running from the Westside of Santa Cruz to Watsonville, where Progressive already began hauling trains over the summer.

The RTC has three years to repair the remaining 24 miles of rail line, so Progressive can extend its service farther north.

It also means that if for some reason the RTC decides that passenger rail isn’t going to work out, and that it prefers the notion of bus-rapid transit on the corridor, it has to wait until at least 2029, when the 10-year agreement expires, before ripping up the tracks.


RTC chair Ed Bottorff says the county would need to pass another tax measure if it’s going to pay for everything in its chosen UCS scenario.

The scenario will cost an estimated $950 million, most of which would be unfunded under current revenue streams.

That’s on top of an estimated $35 million a year in annual maintenance, about a quarter of which would be unfunded under current revenue streams.

RTC would have to pay the state back $11 million in transportation funding if it opts not to build a commuter train on the corridor, although there have been some mixed messages on this topic.

A planning official for the state California Transportation Commission told GT last spring that the county might actually be able to keep the money if it pursued a trail-only solution along the corridor—especially if it preserved portions of the tracks for fright service.

Even among most trail-only sympathizers, there’s support for preserving the tracks outside the Boardwalk that Roaring Camp Railroads uses, as well as three miles of freight rail track in South County.

But this past fall, CTC Executive Director Susan Bransen wrote a letter to RTC staff explaining that if the local agency decides not pursue passenger rail service, it had better pay back that $11 million.


https://goodtimes.sc/santa-cruz-news/news/santa-cruz-transportation-vote/

TPAI Wrote:
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> Apparently, Santa Cruz County Regional
> Transportation Commission is planning 60 passenger
> trains a day along the Santa Cruz Branchline.
> They have informed Roaring Camp that they will
> have to relocate the on/off-boarding operations
> away from the Boardwalk because there will be
> passenger trains travelling along the branchline.
> Too bad for Roaring Camp