Salesforce station tunnel should be last on the LA-SF HSR to-do list
Author: Auditor
Date: 02-28-2023 - 11:45
Far more important:
1. west of Bakersfield to Palmdale segment
2. ACE and Amtrak upgrades from Merced to San Jose and Fremont to Oakland
3. Acquiring starter dual mode equipment so trains can run SF-LA without change using existing Metrolink and ACE until the route is fully electric. Then the starter equipment can be sold to other developing HSR systems, or Amtrak for NEC to non-electric regional routes, or Metrolink, Caltrain to Salinas, ACE, VRE, MARC, MBTA, CTDOT.
4. Pacheco Pass route
5. Palmdale-LA upgrade (some will be done already for the Olympics?)
999. tunnel to Salesforce Center Big Dig. 4th and Townsend is good enough until a cross-bay conventional rail tunnel is built.