This week, after months of debate, the California High Speed Rail Authority finally chose the route that will connect the San Francisco Bay Area to the Central Valley. Once in the Central Valley, trains will head directly to Los Angeles. The Pacheco Pass, which will run trains from San Francisco to the yet to be constructed Central Valley main line via San Jose and Gilroy, was endorsed by several local and state officials. They see this route alternative as the best economic, environmental, and efficient route from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. This route, however, will not serve California as well as the other alternative because of its alignment.
On Wednesday, the Pacheco Pass alternative was selected for various reasons. Unlike the Altamont alternative, there is no need to build a bridge across the San Francisco Bay near Dumbarton (although the rail bridge is already built but needs a large amount of improvements for high speed rail), something that could potentially cause conflicts with environmentalists. The chosen alternative also travels through undeveloped land, meaning less opposition towards building elevated trackways.1 Proponents of the Pacheco Pass also claim that the capacity would be limited with the Altamont Pass, since the tracks branch off towards either San Francisco or San Jose.2 They, however, seem to be mistaken, since trains can de-couple and continue to different destinations, as seen with rail systems worldwide. The Pacheco Pass travels through areas that already have a train route: Caltrain. Caltrain connects Gilroy with San Francisco with express and local service (trains can travel from San Jose to San Francisco in less than an hour, faster than the car at rush hour). Doubling up high speed rail with an express commuter train seems redundant, when there are other areas that have no rail service at all.
Contrarily, the Altamont Pass, which would travel via a rail bridge to the East Bay and then connect to the Central Valley main line, would provide rail service to areas that do not have rail service to San Francisco. It would also relieve congestion off some of the Bay Area's heavily trafficked rail lines. Currently, the rail crossing to San Francisco via the Transbay Tube farther north is almost at capacity.3 Building a new rail bridge near Dumbarton from the peninsula towards Union City and the southern East Bay, would relieve traffic off the BART subway Transbay Tubes. The Altamont Pass would additionally provide a more direct way from the Bay Area to Sacramento (and to several other northern Central Valley cities) and yield a significant time savings to the capital over the current local Amtrak service. People also should keep in mind that the South Bay (San Jose) would still have high speed rail service with this alternative and that the estimated travel time on the Altamont Pass is only 10 minutes more than with the Pacheco Pass.4 The Altamont Pass, though, would be much more expensive when connecting San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose to the main line, with the construction and when acquiring right of ways.5 This route, however, would provide developed areas train service and attract a robust ridership.
Despite the debates about which alternatives to take, transit advocates are glad that the high speed rail has taken a major step towards being on the 2008 ballot. California will have to go with what is offered and make the best out of it. Traveling from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2 hours and 30 minutes (with either alternative) is stellar and will provide a major boost in the state's economy.
Works cited:
1 Cabanatuan, Michael, "Pacheco Pass chosen over Altamont for proposed high-speed rail line," San Francisco Chronicle, 20 December 2007.
2 Ibid.
3 Cabanatuan, Michael, "BART's New Vision: More, Bigger, Faster," San Francisco Chronicle, 22 June 2007.
4 California High Speed Rail Authority, "Optimal Express Travel Times (.pdf)," 13 November 2007.
5 California High Speed Rail Authority, "Draft Costs Board Presentation (.pdf)," 9 March 2007.
Photo: TGV high speed train waits at the Paris Montparnasse station. TGV trains travel up to 186 mph, or 300 km/h.
