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March-April 2002

How soon will HSR begin service?

The California High Speed Rail Au-

thority (HSRA) plans call for service to

begin 10 to 15 years from now, assuming

no major setbacks. Most likely the pro-

posed 700-mile HSR system will open in

stages. The HSRA may decide to build the

San Jose-Los Angeles segment first, and

then use the operating profit from carry-

ing passengers on that segment to help

finance the construction of the remaining

legs of the system.

How frequently will HSR run?

The HSRA's business plan, based

on ridership projections, describes five

grades of service that would be offered by

2020. Simultaneous operation of all grades

of service includes hourly to half-hourly

service frequency for each grade during

the daytime. There is little doubt that the

system has high ridership potential. North-

ern-Southern California (counting flights

between all Bay Area and greater LA area

airports) is by far the world's busiest air

travel corridor. HSR has been running and

profitable overseas mostly in corridors

with lower travel volumes than California's

north-south corridor.

Will security precautions for HSR travel

be necessary as with air travel?

Because rail is much less suscep-

tible to acts of terrorism, HSR travel re-

quires less extensive security measures.

Therefore, HSR travelers do not face the

slow airport-style check-in procedures

prior to boarding. Trains cannot be hi-

jacked the way airliners can. When terror-

ists detonated a bomb on a French TGV

train, the line resumed service within hours.

--Russell Reagan

Q and A

High Speed Rail

Caltrain Projects a Regional Priority

[See

MTC

, page 5]

On December 19, the Metropolitan

Transportation Commission (MTC) ap-

proved the 2001 Regional Transportation

Plan (RTP), along with a companion Regional

Transit Expansion Policy (RTEP). The RTP,

which is updated every three years, de-

scribes how $82 billion will be spent over

the next 25 years. The RTEP, a successor to

a similar policy adopted in 1988, specifies

the development of new transit projects.

Caltrain upgrades such as electrifi-

cation and the downtown extension to a re-

built Transbay Terminal fared well over many

highway and transit projects considered by

MTC. Both Caltrain projects are listed in the

priority category (Track 1 in the RTP and

Tier 1 in the RTEP). Projects in the priority

category are earmarked for state and federal

funding that the Bay Area expects to receive

over the next 25 years.

A major Caltrain project left out of the

priority category is the extension of service

across the Dumbarton rail bridge to Union

City. Despite local sales tax funds

appropiated to this project by San Mateo,

Santa Clara, and Alameda counties, the three

counties have not yet agreed on how to cover

operating costs, and therefore failed to meet

MTC's requirements for inclusion of the

project in Track 1/Tier 1. However, the RTP

and RTEP stipulate that the Dumbarton rail

project would attain funding priority once

the three counties reached an agreement on

operating costs.

The priority status for Caltrain up-

grades was not assured initially. When MTC

released the draft version of RTP and RTEP

last August, the Caltrain downtown exten-

sion and the reconstruction of the Transbay

Terminal were listed as separate projects and

were not included in Track 1/Tier 1 of RTP

and RTEP. Project advocates argued that

since the Caltrain extension could not be

completed without the new terminal, the two

should be treated as one project. In addi-

tion, advocates found the draft RTEP did not

meet MTC's own criteria, which gives prior-

ity to the projects remaining from the 1988

regional agreement for rail projects, Resolu-

tion 1876. The Caltrain downtown extension

and the BART extension to Warm Springs

Passengers on the Amtrak Capitol

Corridor may now transfer free to County

Connection buses at the Martinez Station.

This transfer arrangement augments the ex-

isting free transfer privileges from the Capi-

tol Corridor to AC Transit and Sacramento

Regional Transit available since last May.

Free coupons good for two local bus rides

on AC Transit are available from Capitol train

conductors. Also Capitol passengers may

purchase BART tickets onboard at a 20%

discount.

Capitol Corridor Expands

Free Bus Transfer Program

At the High Speed Rail Authority meet-

ing in Bakersfield last November, some key

decisions were made to narrow the scope of

the environmental and engineering studies.

The HSRA board voted to adopt the HSRA

staff recommendation of standard steel-

wheel, steel-rail technology, allowing HSR

to share tracks with conventional trains, as

well as the use of the Caltrain's planned ex-

press tracks on the Peninsula.

HSRA plans call for trains to operate

no faster than 120 mph along the Caltrain

corridor once all grade crossings have been

eliminated. Until that occurs, trains would

be restricted to even slower speeds. HSR

would reach its top speed of 220 mph in rural

areas and in the Central Valley.

The decision by HSRA effectively

ended any further debate about standard rail

versus magnetic levitation (maglev) technol-

ogy. Standard rail HSR technology is well

established and has served travelers in Eu-

rope and Japan for decades. Since the 1980s,

this technology has progressed from top

speeds of 170 mph to 220 mph in revenue

service. While maglev is capable of speeds

over 300 mph, it has yet to prove itself for

practical, widespread usage.

The HSRA's decision to use Caltrain

alignment on the Peninsula also eliminated

the option of using the median of US 101.

Studies by HSRA concluded that the latter

alternative would be much more costly than

sharing tracks with Caltrain. Consultants

found that the lack of space in the freeway

median would necessitate an aerial structure

along the length of the freeway, high enough

to clear existing overpasses.

Though the HSRA board voted unani-

mously with little debate on this item, BayRail

Alliance considered the decision a victory.

BayRail has strongly advocated that the pro-

posed HSR system be compatible with

Caltrain. Caltrain and HSR sharing tracks will

require that Caltrain be electrified. Further-

more, says BayRail board member Russell

Reagan, "It makes political support for up-

grading Caltrain, and possibly connecting

conventional rail lines, all the more certain."

HSRA Selects Caltrain Route

What you can do to support HSR?

1. Join CAHSR e-mail subscriber list:

www.yahoogroups.com/group/CAHSR

2. Attend meetings related to HSR, see

back page for details.