California High Speed Rail Thread

[fieldsofdreams]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Im sure once HSR becomes close to a reality in both cities, then it will make sense for both respective metros to look at joining forces

Not to mention, if tickets can be processed (and encoded) on a smartphone, it will become much, much easier to travel around the state. It can significantly shorten wait times at the ticket gates and on vehicles, and it will allow smoother journeys on transit. There will be a large missing link, however, in the Central Valley, especially in Fresno where there is currently no commuter card program similar to either Clipper in the SF Bay Area or TAP in Los Angeles... if, however, Compass Card in San Diego is accepted on the High Speed Rail (and its Metrolink and Coaster counterparts), it would surely help those regions have interconnected card networks, allowing commuters to use any of those cards to travel through the three major cities in the state.

As an aside, I don't think Sacramento has a similar system as Clipper; however, a transit agency which feeds into Sacramento now accepts the Bay Area commuter card as a form of payment. It made me think: could Clipper be expanded to Sacramento (and into RT as well) so that all of the major cities in the state are covered by at least one commuter card? I ask because Sacramento is also one of the terminals for the high-speed rail, and it will be especially helpful if Clipper, TAP, and Compass can be used to complete one's journey from north to south and vice versa.

[jg6544]

Well, it's hardly "high-speed" rail, not yet, but it looks like they're working on more unified ticketing in southern California, at least:

http://www.latimes.com/local/transportation/

I was surprised to learn that the San Diego-San Luis Obispo corridor is the second busiest in the country. Kind of makes me wonder why we didn't start building HSR there instead of around Fresno.

[ardecila]

Siemens recently set up a promotion on the steps of the California capitol in Sacramento... they have not won the bid to produce trainsets for CAHSR, but stuff like this definitely helps their case.


flickr/Jim Action Jackson

[electricron]

Originally Posted by jg6544

I was surprised to learn that the San Diego-San Luis Obispo corridor is the second busiest in the country. Kind of makes me wonder why we didn't start building HSR there instead of around Fresno.

Because they wanted to run the trains on the other route away from San Luis Obispo. While eventually reaching San Diego, they also aren't following the Surfliner route in that direction.

California HSR isn't designed nor being built to replace the Surfliners. It's being built to add new train services in different locations within the state.

[Eightball]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Siemens recently set up a promotion on the steps of the California capitol in Sacramento... they have not won the bid to produce trainsets for CAHSR, but stuff like this definitely helps their case.


flickr/Jim Action Jackson

Would love to cruise around the state on one of those. Coincidentally we flew to the SF area this weekend (flew into SFO, flew out of SJC due to events we attended) and it was a mess on the flight back. It was just one of those regional jets, and it was delayed by an hour getting in to SJC. Then, we all boarded and then had to wait an hour because even tho there was no issue with the ability to take off at SJC but LAX had no additional space for planes to land (we lost our spot since were delayed so much). Point being the airplane capacity issue is present right now, and will only get worse in the future. Can't wait for the CAHSR to open!

In the interim they really should run new SF(or at least East Bay)-LA service ASAP

[redblock]

Here is a report on the start of construction of the California High Speed Rail project.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...oject-to-start

[BrownTown]

Originally Posted by redblock

Here is a report on the start of construction of the California High Speed Rail project.

I'm still very worried about the fact they haven't been able to acquire the right of way for the segments they are supposed to be building now. California really needs to step it up and start enforcing eminent domain. It's a very questionable decision to start construction without all of the right of way in your hands. Many projects have been significantly slowed or had substantial cost overruns due to making this mistake.

PS: Google "Road build around apartments China". There are many hilarious examples of them building roads and then a judge granting a land owners lawsuit to not have to move and there ends up being an apartment stuck right in the middle of a road. Those are just silly examples, but here in the US there have been many projects that have had to change locations after construction started due to these sort of issues. The big bridge project in Louisville is building a $200 Million tunnel because they couldn't get the rights to a piece of property and are instead tunneling under it.

[ardecila]

This is inherent in the nature of public works. What do you propose to avoid the problem? Generally, planners and politicians have assumed that starting the project was the best remedy, as eventually the court of public opinion would turn against the holdouts and they would lose hope. Hence the situation in China where roads were literally built around homes.

In China, this doesn't matter since public opinion is worthless in a totalitarian state. In America, the demands of taxpayers to get their money's worth out of a new highway will eventually shame a holdout property owner into leaving, or turn a jury against the holdout owner.

[202_Cyclist]

Proposed station in Burbank could serve as hub for California high-speed rail
State's High-Speed Rail Authority shares information on the proposed bullet train.

By Chad Garland
Burbank Leader
May 19, 2015

"There may come a day when a business professional hops on the Metro Orange Line at Warner Center at 7 a.m. and travels to San Francisco for an 11 a.m. meeting without stepping foot on a plane or in a car.

That's a possibility that excites Russell Brown. He was one of dozens of area residents at a public meeting at the Buena Vista Branch Library on Monday to hear the latest on the “transformative” infrastructure project that could make that vision a reality: the bullet train that will eventually run from Sacramento to San Diego.

Michelle Boehm, Southern California regional director for the California High-Speed Rail Authority, said the bullet train will be a critical piece in a transit system that brings together various modes of transportation to connect Northern and Southern California and alleviate freeway and short-haul air traffic..."

http://www.burbankleader.com/news/tn...,7951362.story

[Hatman]

This story caught me off guard:
​Nevada joins the high-speed rail bandwagon with plans for Vegas, SoCal link

A high-speed train to Las Vegas took another step toward to reality last week as the Nevada Legislature sent a bill to Gov. Brian Sandoval to establish the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority.
The agency would select a firm to construct and operate a high-speed train from Las Vegas to Southern California and oversee construction if Senate Bill 457 becomes law. The bill passed both legislative chambers last week with only one dissenting vote.

XpressWest, a private rail company, has proposed a bullet train from Las Vegas to Victorville in California, where it would connect to other rail systems. The trip would last 80 minutes, with trains traveling at speeds up to 150 miles per hour, the company reports on its website.

LINK

This makes it sound like 'XpressWest' might be getting some state support from a new 'Nevada High Speed Rail Authority'. It makes sense that XpressWest would at least be eligible, as they have been around the longest in this corridor and have many plans already drawn up.
This seems like a big deal to me. How legitimate is it?

[Leo the Dog]

I don't understand why anyone would move forward with a Las Vegas to Victorville line, with the hope that someday it'll be linked to the rest of the system.

Victorville is seriously in the middle of nowhere.

[northbay]

Originally Posted by Hatman

This story caught me off guard:
​Nevada joins the high-speed rail bandwagon with plans for Vegas, SoCal link


LINK

This makes it sound like 'XpressWest' might be getting some state support from a new 'Nevada High Speed Rail Authority'. It makes sense that XpressWest would at least be eligible, as they have been around the longest in this corridor and have many plans already drawn up.
This seems like a big deal to me. How legitimate is it?

From Wikipedia:

On July 11, 2013, Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, Chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee and Senator Jeff Sessions, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee announced in a joint letter that the United States Department of Transportation had advised Xpress West that it had suspended indefinitely consideration of the requested federal loan.[2] The federal loan had been considered necessary for the project to proceed by Xpress West officials.[3]

In 2014, Nevada Senator Harry Reid mentioned that the federal loan request may resurface, but little has been seen so far of the project's continued viability...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XpressWest

XpressWest isn't getting any money from the Feds anytime soon so this may be Nevada trying to keep momentum/pressure going.

As for Victorville, it's on the way to Palmdale, where XpressWest would meet CAHSR.

[Leo the Dog]

You'd think that the connection would be set in stone versus a build it and someday, with some money connect it to CaHSR. Pretty big gap, requiring a bus transfer? Just seems like a headache.

A vegas spur makes sense, it should be a see less connection IMO.


https://en.wiki2.org/wikipedia/commo...sr_map.svg.png

[lrt's friend]

Why would any private company invest in a high speed rail line that has a terminus that does not offer frequent rail connections into Los Angeles? This does not make sense.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Why would any private company invest in a high speed rail line that has a terminus that does not offer frequent rail connections into Los Angeles? This does not make sense.

Exactly. The only way this line would work is if it terminated at Union Station... or an area like Pasadena

[BrownTown]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Why would any private company invest in a high speed rail line that has a terminus that does not offer frequent rail connections into Los Angeles? This does not make sense.

Because it's Los Angeles, the car capital of the world.

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by BrownTown

Because it's Los Angeles, the car capital of the world.

So Angelenos are expected to drive to Victorville, park for a fee and then catch a train to Vegas, which will require a taxi once there to get to your hotel on the strip? I don't see how this would be successful at all.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by BrownTown

Because it's Los Angeles, the car capital of the world.

Dumbest comment of the thread. I know a lot of people that go to vegas at least 5 or 6 times a year and not 1 of them would drive to victorville and jump on a train to go to vegas. You're practically half way there once you get to Victorville lol

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

So Angelenos are expected to drive to Victorville, park for a fee and then catch a train to Vegas, which will require a taxi once there to get to your hotel on the strip? I don't see how this would be successful at all.

Good grief. These projects cannot be developed in isolation. There needs to be local connectivity so that a large number of people can get to their final destination without a lot of hassle and extra expense. I don't see how this accomplishes this. Where are the good (or even great) intermodal transit hubs at each end of the line? Is there a plan for this? Or are we going to just dump passengers in the middle of nowhere to fend for themselves? If so, failure is guaranteed. Times are changing fast and connectivity is expected by potential customers.

[dl3000]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

You'd think that the connection would be set in stone versus a build it and someday, with some money connect it to CaHSR. Pretty big gap, requiring a bus transfer? Just seems like a headache.

A vegas spur makes sense, it should be a see less connection IMO.


https://en.wiki2.org/wikipedia/commo...sr_map.svg.png

Stopping in Victorville is like being caught between a rock and a hard place. Topography suggests it would be most cost effective to make the run from Victorville to meet up with CAHSR in Palmdale (or straight from Barstow to Palmdale), but you'd end up with longer travel times.

The positive is that they could bypass Cajon Pass, which would be a substantial capital cost that they clearly expect to be funded by Californians, which is unlikely in our lifetimes.