Re: Restoring Passenger Rail Service To Monterey
Author: Eddie Elkins
Date: 08-10-2013 - 12:51
Jon Wrote:
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> OK, I'll take the bait.
>
> Facts:
>
> The former Monterey branch would have to be
> completely rebuilt from Castroville to Sand City
> or Monterey.
Agreed. It's not an insurmountable project.
> Service COULD be extended to Fisherman's Wharf,
> but it would take years to get it through
> politically.
With careful planning, you could have a mixed use arrangement where only certain trains would run that far. And the trains wouldn't be going very fast on that particular segment. But giving people a single seat ride right to the attractions is what draws business, rather than having to take a shuttle bus on the last leg.
> There are not a lot of commuters to the Bay Area
> who live on the peninsula, So this only makes
> sense if the route attracted vacationers from the
> Bay Area.
There's not a lot of commuters from San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara to Los Angeles and San Diego, but the SURFLINERS do quite well with a "mixed bag" traffic make-up. Trains to and from Monterey should be patterned after the SURFLINER or CAPITOL CORRIDOR model, both of which have been highly successful --- even though they don't make money.
> Those vacationers wouldn't be interested unless
> the travel time was less than driving ...
Not necessarily. With ideal traffic conditions, highway driving times are faster than both the SURFLINER and CAPITOL CORRIDOR, since those trains make stops en-route.
> Which means that the entire route would have to be upgraded to
> at least 100MPH standards.
Not necessarily.
> So, it makes no economic sense to do this.
For that matter, Yosemite National Park makes no economic sense.
It makes no economic sense to run ANY passenger trains ANYWHERE since they don't turn a profit. It makes no economic sense to widen freeways because they'll just be clogged up again in a few years and you're back to square one. People probably said it made no economic sense to build Dallas-Ft. Worth airport when Love Field was still performing as intended.
Sometimes, for the public good, you have to look beyond "economic sense." Down the road, the value of the project presents itself.