What do you think of the CA High Speed Rail Act?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Up for voting on the California voting is the California High Speed Rail Act. It suppose to allocate such earmarked funds to begin building it. This particular high-speed train project is suppose to link up San Francisco and the surround Bay Area (possibly with some other major stop points in the Central Valley portion of California -- Stockton, Modesto, etc.) to Los Angeles. It is proposed to cost an estimated $46-47 billion dollars to build with an 17 to 18 year timeframe to finally be completed. It should take no more than a two hour journey from S.F. to L.A. -- that would be an awesome trip to take, right? ^_~

It's already almost over for the 2008 year and 2009 is upon us, and still no high speed train project even been started yet. What is Guvernator Arnold doing about this matter?

Just suppose if this High Speed Railway Act was voted and passed back in the 1980's or even the 1990's, the construction would've still be on-going or be nearing completion.

There was speculation of sharing the high-speed train with the regular trainlines being run by Sante Fe, Southern Pacific, Northern Burlington, etc., but that would just add more congested traffic on the railways as it now stands. There is a plan to include building a seperate high speed train track system to bypass that situation.

Having rode the slowest Japanese bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto back in early 2000, I was very impressed by how Japan's high speed train system was set up. ^_~

California should've implemented this high speed train project years ago when it wouldn't have cost as much to build. Oh well, better later than never, eh?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Ed Oscuro]

McCain hates trains. Therefore, they loseth.

[FIL]

It would be a good idea, but from what i've seen of the debate surrounding it, it won't get passed. Too much "it won't affect me directly so i'm against it"

The USA needs to bring its rail network into line with the rest of the world, rails are for people as well as coal.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Seeing France with it's high speed TVG train...yeah, the USA needs to jump on the high-speed train bandwagon quickly as possible. And updated it's aging Amtrak line to high speed railways wouldn't be a bad idea. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[bitkid]

As a Bay Area resident I really hope that they build a high-speed rail system in my lifetime. It would be awesome to be able to travel all the way from Sacramento to San Diego in just a few hours. I'm not sure if they are planning on extending the infrastructure that far, but I know they at least want to go from SF to LA.

I ride the BART here in the Bay Area all the time. Commuting in a car sucks.

[Ed Oscuro]

I saw an Amtrak train pass by a few hundred yards away about an hour ago...man those things are REALLY FUCKING DIRTY looking. Plus there's only like two passenger cars, with dual locomotives (or maybe the back one's aerodynamically shaped, I dunno, but it looked like twin locomotives for just two cars).

[Zebra Airforce]

why would we want trains? they don't even use gas-o-leen.

[Ed Oscuro]

why would we want trains? they don't even use gas-o-leen.

or NATURAL GAS thank you MISTER PICKINGS

[neorichieb1971]

I thought CA was mostly desert, or part of it anyway. Why would it cost 18 billion?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I thought CA was mostly desert, or part of it anyway. Why would it cost 18 billion?

Well, it would cost more, due to supplies and materials going up in price. If this high speed train project intiative does get approved by the public in next months general California general election, it would have to go to the governor for final approval. If he okays it, then such monies would be allocated to get the ball rolling on this massive and huge undertaking.

In reality, the high speed track would have to built in stages and that takes time if you want the job done right the first time. Hence, the seventeen to eighteen years to get it done properly. I'm all for it. ^_~

Yeah, it would be great if Sacramento could be included in this high speed raillink project, bitkid. Would cost billions more if it is to be. ^_~

There is talk about bypassing the Central Valley altogether (meaning skip building through the Altamont Pass to do so). If you want it done the right way the first time, it would be wise to include the major cities such as S.F. Bay Area and Sacramento, and some Central Valley city stops along the way.

In the nearby future, the Californian cities nowdays will only increase in population density -- you have think about how much bigger the population will be in the State of California in twenty to thirty years down the road. That is a given. Wouldn't it be nice to live in the Bay Area and commute to work in L.A. in just a few hours and not have to worry about missing an important flight to do so? The high speed train project makes sense but it will be such a huge project to pull off successfully. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Ed Oscuro]

Next time I'm taking the train!

[CMoon]

I'd love to see the rail put in, but this is coming at a time when CA is hurting for cash. I wonder if that will keep it from happening.

Ha! Wish it could stop off at some really awesome hiking spots in the Sierras so I didn't have to drive 4 hours to get there.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

After reading more info about this Proposition 1A-High Speed Train Act, it will utilize a high speed train system capable of going 220mph. Damn, that's fast. ^_~

Some of the proposed corridors of Phase 1 of this project include:

*Sacramento to Stockton to Fresno

*San Francisco Transbay Terminal to San Jose to Fresno

*Oakland to San Jose

*Fresno to Bakersfield to Palmdale to Los Angeles Union Station

*Los Angeles Union Station to Riverside to San Diego

*Los Angeles Union Station to Anaheim to Irvine

and lastly,

*Merced to Stockton to Oakland and San Francisco via the Altamont Corridor (better known as the Altamont Pass for native Californians such as myself) -- a stop in Modesto or Riverbank would good to include this proposed corridor section IMO. There will be a time when Modesto's population will exceed the 250,000-300,000 mark -- why not take advantage of building the high speed railway infrastructure to stop at either two of those smaller growing cities makes sense in the long run.

Interesting destinations, indeed. ^_~

There is speculation that if urban sprawl is left unchecked in the Central Valley of California, it could end up like another L.A. all over again. And all that valuable agricultural land contained within it just paved over -- think of an urban concrete jungle of how L.A. exists today. That's a frightning senario to think of. But if that happens, so be it.

However, it has been said that a whopping estimated $60 million U.S. dollars has already been spent over a period of 12 years just for pre-construction activities such as enviromental studies and planning related to the proposed high speed train system. And yet, no money has even been raised to start building it yet. It was back in 1996, that the California state formed the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to see that such a plan was formed and implemented.

It's almost the end of 2008 and still no train system in place as of yet. I have to admit that is a waste of the taxpayer's money and a waste of time spent doing jack shit when it makes sense to just start the damn project already. The longer this high-speed train project is put off, the more expensive it will cost when it is finally finished -- that is a given.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~