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San Fran to LA via Merced and Bakersfield? If they were serious, they would have done San Fran to San Jose where the dollars spent would actually be useful rath

San Fran to LA via Merced and Bakersfield? If they were serious, they would have done San Fran to San Jose where the dollars spent would actually be useful rather than moving people from Nowhere to Nowhere Else.

martinald 7y ago
Federal 'new start' grant money cannot be used on existing rail corridors. Hence this part is being funded as part of the caltrain modernization project, which is literally under construction as we speak. It will turn the existing 2-3tph corridor into at least 10tph each way with all the standard features of a European/Japanese/Chinese train line.
perfmode 7y ago
If there was viable transportation, maybe Merced and Bakersfield would have a chance to become involved beyond the conversation-fodder of “nowhere” and “nowhere-else”.
serf 7y ago
>...Moving people from Nowhere to... >Bakersfield's population is around 380,000,[10] making it the 9th-most populous city in California and the 52nd-most populous city in the nation.[0] Gee, I wonder why some folks have the idea that SV/SF/Software people are disconnected from the rest of the world. I don't want to have a reason to go to Bakersfield, but maybe it's a bit aloof to pretend like it's some tiny outpost in the middle of nowhere; it's a CA freeway hub that's connected to the entire rest of the state by a slew of highway arteries that facilitate easy travel from SoCal/NorCal/Central. It's literally the intersection of 5 or 6 highways from all over the state. It's perfectly reasonable to have a mass transit hub there; it leads to anywhere you want to go in California via highway. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakersfield,_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakersfield,_California
- jeffdavis 7y ago
  Are you predicting that people will actually ride this train in any significant numbers and create real economic activity? If not, it's a distinction without a difference. I grew up in the central valley. Nice place in many ways, but all that matters for this discussion is whether that route is useful. And I highly doubt it is. A lot of the traffic on that route is trucking, which isn't helped by high-speed rail. You say it's connected by highways, but if you are riding the train you don't have a car. A bus? Kind of makes the train speed irrelevant if you are trying out a bus route from Bakersfield to somewhere else. Not seeing the user story for this project.
reaperducer 7y ago
If they were serious, they would have done San Fran to San Jose where the dollars spent would actually be useful rather than moving people from Nowhere to Nowhere Else. San Francisco, the 13th largest city in America? And San Jose, the 10th largest city in America? If they were serious, they should have done New York to Los Angeles where the dollars spent would actually be useful rather than moving people from Nowhere to Nowhere Else.
dragonwriter 7y ago
> If they were serious, they would have done San Fran to San Jose where the dollars spent would actually be useful The project did spend money there on electrification and other improvements to existing CalTrain and other service and infrastructure; Merced to Bakersfield was a new track segment that was in a position to compete favorably for federal funding then on offer for that specific purpose, and as the whole system always relied on getting additional federal and private funds, that's what got prioritized for new rail construction. The initial construction segment was never even imagined as the initial operation segment (which was SJ to Bakersfield, which is very much not nowhere to nowhere else, but are two significant population centers with poor existing linkages, unlike SF to SJ which, while significant population centers, have much better existing linkages.)
tomjakubowski 7y ago
SFO–LAX is, or was very recently, the busiest air route in the country.

martinald 7y ago

Federal 'new start' grant money cannot be used on existing rail corridors. Hence this part is being funded as part of the caltrain modernization project, which is literally under construction as we speak. It will turn the existing 2-3tph corridor into at least 10tph each way with all the standard features of a European/Japanese/Chinese train line.

perfmode 7y ago

If there was viable transportation, maybe Merced and Bakersfield would have a chance to become involved beyond the conversation-fodder of “nowhere” and “nowhere-else”.

serf 7y ago

>...Moving people from Nowhere to... >Bakersfield's population is around 380,000,[10] making it the 9th-most populous city in California and the 52nd-most populous city in the nation.[0] Gee, I wonder why some folks have the idea that SV/SF/Software people are disconnected from the rest of the world. I don't want to have a reason to go to Bakersfield, but maybe it's a bit aloof to pretend like it's some tiny outpost in the middle of nowhere; it's a CA freeway hub that's connected to the entire rest of the state by a slew of highway arteries that facilitate easy travel from SoCal/NorCal/Central. It's literally the intersection of 5 or 6 highways from all over the state. It's perfectly reasonable to have a mass transit hub there; it leads to anywhere you want to go in California via highway. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakersfield,_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakersfield,_California

jeffdavis 7y ago
Are you predicting that people will actually ride this train in any significant numbers and create real economic activity? If not, it's a distinction without a difference. I grew up in the central valley. Nice place in many ways, but all that matters for this discussion is whether that route is useful. And I highly doubt it is. A lot of the traffic on that route is trucking, which isn't helped by high-speed rail. You say it's connected by highways, but if you are riding the train you don't have a car. A bus? Kind of makes the train speed irrelevant if you are trying out a bus route from Bakersfield to somewhere else. Not seeing the user story for this project.

reaperducer 7y ago

If they were serious, they would have done San Fran to San Jose where the dollars spent would actually be useful rather than moving people from Nowhere to Nowhere Else. San Francisco, the 13th largest city in America? And San Jose, the 10th largest city in America? If they were serious, they should have done New York to Los Angeles where the dollars spent would actually be useful rather than moving people from Nowhere to Nowhere Else.

dragonwriter 7y ago

> If they were serious, they would have done San Fran to San Jose where the dollars spent would actually be useful The project did spend money there on electrification and other improvements to existing CalTrain and other service and infrastructure; Merced to Bakersfield was a new track segment that was in a position to compete favorably for federal funding then on offer for that specific purpose, and as the whole system always relied on getting additional federal and private funds, that's what got prioritized for new rail construction. The initial construction segment was never even imagined as the initial operation segment (which was SJ to Bakersfield, which is very much not nowhere to nowhere else, but are two significant population centers with poor existing linkages, unlike SF to SJ which, while significant population centers, have much better existing linkages.)

tomjakubowski 7y ago

SFO–LAX is, or was very recently, the busiest air route in the country.