The 6:00 PM news on Sacramento News 10 has just announced that the first sections of the California HSR to be built will be San Francisco - San Jose and Los Angeles - Anahiem and construcion should start in less than three years if all lawsuits can be settled in that time frame along the San Francisco - San Jose portion.
It certainly seems to me that they could already be starting construction if they were to build the Sacramento - Bakersfield portion first followed by the Bakersfield - Palmdale and San Jose- Merced portions. In that way if the San Francisco - San Jose lawsuits don't get settled within the three year time frame then they can decide whether to leave San Francisco out of the picture and go up the east bay instead.Let passengers for San Francisco transfer to Caltrain. The east bay communities would be more than happy to get HSR. Does this project have to be like everything else in California (lawsuits, enviromentalist wackos at every turn etc.) that involves San Francisco and West bay politics. When I and others voted last November for the HSR bond measure they assured everyone that ground breaking could take place in less than a year and no mention was made of the suits pending by Palo Alto and other west bay communities. It's beginning to smell much like the southbay when the tide is out.
I say let's build the Los Angeles - Sacramento HSR system and if it is to be extended to Anahiem then let Disney pay for it. I see no other reason that HSR should even go to Anahiem.
If San Francisco and the east bay want to eventually be added to the HSR then so be it, otherwise I am sure Sacramento the state capital would be more than happy to welcome the system earlier.
Al - in - Stockton
"...if it is to be extended to Anaheim then let Disney pay for it. I see no other reason that HSR should even go to Anaheim"
I think the 3 million residents of Orange County (2nd largest behind LA County) might disagree with that statement.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
schlimmI think the 3 million residents of Orange County (2nd largest behind LA County) might disagree with that statement.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
oltmanndschlimmI think the 3 million residents of Orange County (2nd largest behind LA County) might disagree with that statement. And the LAST thing they'd do to get on a train to SF would be to drive to LA. Starting the trains on the far side of the Metro area would seem to be a really smart thing to do - even if they have to use conventional Metrolink lines to do it.
Given the sorry state of California's finances, the high speed rail planners need to start the trains as close to the would be passenger's homes as possible. After Californians get done paying the taxes required to service the debt that they keep piling up, many of them won't be able to afford a car or the gasoline to drive it.
Sam1 oltmanndschlimmI think the 3 million residents of Orange County (2nd largest behind LA County) might disagree with that statement. And the LAST thing they'd do to get on a train to SF would be to drive to LA. Starting the trains on the far side of the Metro area would seem to be a really smart thing to do - even if they have to use conventional Metrolink lines to do it. Given the sorry state of California's finances, the high speed rail planners need to start the trains as close to the would be passenger's homes as possible. After Californians get done paying the taxes required to service the debt that they keep piling up, many of them won't be able to afford a car or the gasoline to drive it.
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