PI: thanks for the support. It's rare I get any.

I understand how much sexier SF-LA is, with images of Hollywood and the Golden Gate and bullet trains flying through the desert at 200 mph plus; and how mundane a commuter train from Palmdale sounds, even if it gets you DT in 27 min., which allows you to catch LRT to the westside, LB, etc., and still take under an hour.

But the reality is that the major commuting freeways in LA (and the Bay) are choked now and will just get worse, and the LA-Bay routes generally move well and air service is wide-spread and reasonably priced.

Even the regional pieces will take 10-15 years to implement and in the meantime we can see what new facts drive future builidng plans.

^I would certainly welcome that approach being taken, and those areas being built first, but that would be nearly impossible politically. You have to face facts - ballot initiatives are the only way to fund things in California, and the only way to get enough money to build what you're talking about is to go statewide with an initiative framed like prop 1A was (which allowed 50%+1 to pass). Very unlikely that you'd get San Diego County or Riverside County to vote to pay for a train from LA to Palmdale. The Bay Area would be even more difficult - San Mateo or Marin County paying for high speed service connecting San Joaquin County to Santa Clara County? LOL. Only the "sexiness" of LA to SF (and the state-level, assembly-initiated tricks to make it a 50%+1 prop) make it remotely feasible politically.

You could possibly get something done in Southern California, because of the ginormous counties (and small number of them) that exist, but trying to put together anything in the 15+ counties of the Bay Area and Central Valley (Sac to Fresno)? Impossible.

Prop. 1A was sold to people, though, with the prospect of the Sacramento and San Diego routes. I think it would be very easy to find the political will to establish two separate high-speed rail systems in the northern and southern parts of the state before a line is established through the Central Valley.

I think everyone recognizes the immediate need for better connectivity among San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento and among Anaheim, Los Angeles, Sylmar, San Bernardino, and San Diego.

California can learn from Japan's Shinkansen (SF Chronicle)
 

California can learn from Japan's Shinkansen

Michael Cabanatuan
Sunday, May 9, 2010
San Francisco Chronicle

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/20...9031_part6.jpg
A Shinkansen high-speed train approaches a station in Tokyo. They arrive and depart every three to four minutes.

In a conference room in the Central Japan Railway Co.'s high-rise headquarters, Kenji Hagihara, a public relations manager, pauses in his telling of the story of Japan's high-speed rail system and glances at a calendar on the wall.

"By the way," he says, nonchalantly, "yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the Shinkansen."

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/20...0501569119.jpg
A Shinkansen high-speed train awaits maintenance in the East Japan Railway Rolling Stock Center.

While California's plans to build high-speed rail agonizingly inch forward, attracting federal funding and support as well as increasing opposition from communities concerned about noise and critics who question its financing, in Japan, the world's premier high-speed rail system offers a glimpse at how high-speed rail could change communities, cope with the challenges of noise and earthquakes, and become a part of everyday culture.

The Shinkansen, as the speedy train network is known in Japan, is not considered futuristic, fancy or for the elite, as some critics of California's high-speed rail plans have scoffed. Rather, it's part of the fabric of daily life, something not so much taken for granted as relied upon. The sleek trains - better known outside Japan as bullet trains - shoot through much of the nation almost unnoticed every few minutes, efficiently hauling more than 300 million riders per year.

The world's first high-speed rail line, the Shinkansen opened in 1964, just in time for the Tokyo Olympics, with a single line between Tokyo and Osaka. It was like nothing the world had seen, with dedicated tracks and a train that ran at speeds of 130 mph.

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/20...0501568756.jpg
The bullet train's cars feature comfortable seats, plenty of legroom and windows to watch the scenery speeding by.

Japan's rail culture
Today, the Shinkansen, which means "new trunk line" in Japanese, covers about 1,400 miles on five lines. Another 400 miles of extensions are under construction and 300 miles are planned. Three private rail companies run the trains at speeds up to 186 mph on tracks built and maintained by the national government.

Japan's high-speed trains run with an efficiency, frequency and reliability unimaginable to those familiar with Amtrak or U.S. commuter railroads. The sleek trains with the distinctive long noses depart as often as 14 times an hour - and they're almost always on time. Over the past 45 years, the average delay is less than one minute - and that includes stoppages because of floods, earthquakes, accidents and natural disasters. Rail officials also note their safety record: There's never been a passenger fatality on the Shinkansen.

"The Shinkansen is very fast, very comfortable - you can relax," said Soichiro Takeda, a marketing manager for a construction corporation, who rides it at least once a month. "And it's never late. Time is very sacred here."

Commuters account for about 5 percent of riders, railway officials say, but the reclining airline-style seats (but with more legroom) are also filled with business travelers, families, students, shoppers, weekend adventurers and a few wide-eyed foreign tourists.

But while Japan and the Shinkansen show the promise of high-speed rail to California, they also reveal the challenges.

"Japan, especially Tokyo, is the epitome of rail culture," said Tomohiko Tanaguchi, a senior adviser for the Central Japan Railway, "and California, especially Los Angeles, is the epitome of car culture."

Even before the Shinkansen's debut, Japan was a rail-oriented society. And the Shinkansen, now with five lines operating, remains just a small part of the nation's extensive rail infrastructure, which includes a subway system with 19 lines run by public and private operators. Other large cities have subway networks as well, and even smaller towns have rail lines that loop through the city.

"You can get anywhere in (Tokyo) without a car, and around the country as well," said Jared Braiterman, a former San Franciscan studying sustainability in Japan as a research fellow. "Trains are coming every three to four minutes. The coverage is phenomenal; the efficiency is amazing."

Challenge of urban planning
California lacks such an extensive transit network, even in the Bay Area, and the tradition of traveling by train disappeared more than half a century ago, replaced by a culture of driving and flying. California doesn't have the same population density as Japan either, and it's only been a recent convert to building around transit stations. But that will probably change with high-speed rail, as it has in Japan.

"Whether it can succeed (in California) totally depends on the development of the area around the stations," said Teruo Morita, general manager of East Japan Railway Co.'s international railway business division.

The advent of the Shinkansen brought a population and business boom in many cities, and spurred others, like Kakegawa City, in the green tea-growing Shizuoka Prefecture, about 120 miles southwest of Tokyo, to lobby for stations of their own. Kakegawa, a city of 63,000, was dying like many American farm towns, with children heading off to college in Tokyo and never returning.

A Shinkansen station, residents figured, would lure new businesses and would also allow people to commute to work in Tokyo. They reached a deal with the railway, raised $120 million for construction, including $30 million in donations from residents, and built a large town square in front of the station site. The station opened in 1988, and businesses and residents began moving to town. Multistory buildings rose around the station, rents increased and the city developed an industrial park filled mainly with tech businesses, and new residential areas. The population nearly doubled, along with tax revenues.

Success at curbing noise
Deputy Mayor Kimiharu Yamamoto believes the station saved Kakegawa City, and advises smaller cities to embrace high-speed rail.

"If we didn't have any station, there would be no industrial park, no businesses," he said. "We would just be left alone as a farming town."

High-speed trains don't just deliver prosperity, though. They also come with problems, and noise has been a primary concern, much as it is on the Peninsula where some residents and cities are fighting with the High-Speed Rail Authority.

Japan has a national noise standard for the Shinkansen, limiting the noise it generates to 70 decibels in residential areas and 75 decibels in commercial districts. For comparison, a vacuum cleaner at 10 feet produces 70 dB, and a car passing 10 feet away measures 80 dB.

To meet Japan's stringent standards, rail officials say, they use lightweight trains with sleek and sometimes odd-looking noses, design windows, doors and the spaces where cars connect to be as smooth and aerodynamic as possible, cover the wheels, and work to quiet the overhead electrical supply system, a major noise source. The railways also install sound-walls in some locations along the tracks, ranging from roughly 2 to 12 feet high, and they travel at reduced speeds in the densest areas.

From beside the elevated tracks in the countryside, the Shinkansen is definitely noticeable as it whips past at top speed. But the low rumble and swishing sound it produces seems quieter than a passing BART train or Caltrain. There's no high-pitched screech or metallic roar, and no blaring horns. In urban areas, where the trains travel at lower speeds, the sound is mostly a muffled rumble.

Built to survive quakes
Japan also has experience in dealing with another California problem - earthquakes. The nation is as seismically unstable as California, and the Shinkansen is built to survive major temblors. While the system has been damaged in earthquakes, there has never been a death or injury on the Shinkansen caused by a quake.

The Shinkansen employs an early warning system that officials at the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency say is unique. It detects the primary waves of an earthquake, which travel faster than the main shock waves, instantly calculates the intensity and location and potential damage, then, if the temblor seems serious, cuts off the electrical supply to trains in the region and automatically applies emergency brakes.

"You need a mile, a couple of miles to stop," said Kazunari Kikuchi, special projects director for the agency. "Every second counts."

Ready to build in California
With its seismic sensibilities, its longevity and its reputation for punctuality and safety, Japan considers itself a good candidate to build California's high-speed train system.

California's system is still deep in the planning stages with engineers and planners mapping out specific alignments and station sites and completing environmental studies. The High Speed Rail Authority has $9.95 billion in state bond funds and another $2.25 billion in federal high-speed rail money but needs to line up more private and public investment to pay for the $43 billion cost of the first phase between San Francisco and Southern California. Construction is expected to begin by 2012 with the first trains running in 2019.

Japan, along with a number of other nations, has served as an adviser to the High-Speed Rail Authority and would like to bring the Shinkansen to America.

"I have a strong dream that the Shinkansen bullet train will be running on the land of California some day," said Seiji Maehara, the minister of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. While the Japanese have plenty of advice for California about the system's design and operation, their overall message is simple: Build it.

"California doesn't have any image of the benefits they will get," Kikuchi said.


Chronicle staff writer Michael Cabanatuan visited Japan in the fall of 2009 on a fellowship provided by the Foreign Press Center, Japan.

Back-seat Driver: Sacramento's off the bench in high-speed rail competition

By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Monday, May. 10, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1B

Some say California's bullet train is a dream that'll never happen or a bad idea that'll end up being a money pit.

State voters, however, have given a thumbs up, approving $9 billion in seed money. And the feds just kicked in a few billion more.

That's caused some in Sacramento – including Mayor Kevin Johnson – to begin pushing the case for fast trains to Sacramento.

At the moment, Sacramento's bullet train ticket is stamped "second-class city."

San Francisco and Los Angeles scored the good seats. The first high-speed rail line is planned to run between those two cities.

Sacramento and San Diego would get service later, if the first line makes money, as projected in the state high-speed rail business plan.

That's a huge if.

The business plan's ridership numbers are being challenged in a new lawsuit. Meanwhile, Bay Area communities and advocacy groups are bickering over the S.F.-L.A. route.

Some Sacramento leaders figure the moment is good to try to move this area up from caboose status.

Last week, they took a step forward.

The High Speed Rail Authority board agreed to study the feasibility of building a precursor system (call it a mini-bullet train) linking Sacramento, Stockton, Merced and Livermore.

It would be electrified and have grade separations, allowing the state's high-speed rail trains eventually to share the line.

"It whets the appetite," said Stacey Mortensen of the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission.

Michael Faust of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce likes the creative thinking. He was among several last week who asked the state to make Sacramento part of phase one for the bigger system.

But where's the money to build the regional line? How many will ride?

Proponents say answers are a ways off. For now, Sacramento finally is stepping into the game.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/10/273...#ixzz0ngrZKzSB

:previous:
I'm glad you posted the above. I was going to post it tonight.

Positives
1. I'm glad Sacramento's leaders are finally stepping-up. They have been absent regarding the subject far too long.

2. We all know once High Speed Rail gets going between LA and SF; it will be another 25yrs before they connect Sac to the network, so in the meantime, this Sac-Stk-Merced-Livermore ("SacMerMore") electric train gives us a better alternative other then relying on amtrak to connect us with Merced and therefore the whole High Speed Rail network.

Negatives
1. If this "SacMerMore" electric train is successful then the High Speed Rail leaders may feel it isn't necessary to truly connect Downtown Sac with the network because the "SacMerMore" train is sufficient.

2. On the other hand, (you have five fingers), if the "SacMerMore" train is not successful then the High Speed Rail leaders may feel it isn't worth the cost to connect Downtown Sac.

^ Another 25 years? C'mon, that's a stretch.

Fixed it :)

Guns vs. butter
 

Factbox: A look at costs of Afghan war to U.S. taxpayers

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64914820100510

This is pretty amazing. The administration is seeking $33B to prop up the corrupt Hamid Karzai. High speed rail connecting the 7M people in the Bay Area with the 18M people in Southern California is expected to cost $43B. CA voters already approved $10B in state bond money in 2008. For the cost of this war supplemental, we could fund an infrastructure investment that will reduce our consumption of oil, make the US more competitive, and create good paying jobs for the hundreds of thousands of people out of work in CA.

I don't mean to bash the Chinese but we have plenty of money to fight these wars but we have to beg China and other countries to fund our infrastructure? Some times you can't help but ask which is the developed country and which one is the developing country.

So what happens if Meg Whitman becomes governor? She strikes me as someone who probably doesn't care all that much about transportation issues, other than her party's general pro-road stance. Is she different? Or will she come in and strip away state financial support for high speed rail?

Excellent question, anyone know?

Does anyone know if there is a construction schedule posted somewhere that shows the estimated completion dates of the various segments?

I'm especially interested in the Murrieta station. Is construction scheduled to begin this decade?

Don't fool yourself, China's broke as well. They don't have money for all this stuff they're building, it's all debt which will never be paid off. China’s created massive debt and property bubbles. Unlike here in the west, China's government is not as open about their finances. They've been hiding debt for possibly decades, the party isn't going last forever. There will likely be a major slowdown at some point where nothing big gets built in China for decades. Personally I don't think high-speed rail is the future of transportation either, it is very expensive to build a good system.

I recently read in a C.H.S.R. blog 2026 as a completion date for the L.A. to S.D. segment.

We need to fast-track this process. Southern California may not survive to 2026 without high-speed trains.

Dude, it may not survive to 2012.

Why is everyone freaking out? We'll just pay for the full system with the future funds generated by the California 2022 FIFA World Cup!! OK well maybe not, but that'd be sick though.

Rail officials eye airport (Burbank Leader)
 

[B]Rail officials eye airport[/B]

Transportation authority is considering a station at Bob Hope.

By Zain Shauk
May 22, 2010

http://www.burbankleader.com/news/bl...,1457681.story

High-speed rail representatives are strongly considering a stop near Bob Hope Airport as the sole San Fernando Valley station for the planned 800-mile system, local officials said.

Rail representatives early this year expressed a preference for station options in Burbank along the San Fernando Road corridor, either in the city's downtown area or near Glendale, on Alameda Avenue. But after hearing public concerns about connectivity to the airport, the authority is instead considering a stop near Bob Hope, at Hollywood Way, said David Kriske, Burbank's principal transportation planner.

"We're still kind of evaluating what that means for us," Kriske said.

Authority representatives have also reacted to local concerns about station locations with a plan to choose one stop in the San Fernando Valley, rather than two, as was previously discussed, said Jano Baghdanian, Glendale's traffic and transportation administrator….

Interesting! It seems to say that the DT Glendale and Burbank crowd plus anyone coming from Santa Clarita to take HSR from Sylmar is not worth worrying about.

Conversely, a non-stop connection from DT to Burbank Airport makes the air trip from DT LA to the Bay Area or LV or other air destinations even quicker. It means you can run the HSR as far as Palmdale, get a great regional system, and then end it (even though I’m sure this isn’t what HSR has in mind). It's a shame they won't tunnel over to the airport itself and make seemless connections.

I guess the DT Burbank and Glendale stops can be handled by local transit (trolley?) or left as is.

http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula...nclick_check=1
:dancingbacon :dancingbacon :dancingbacon

Great news! This was mentioned later in the article:

So, the FRA had no data and just made this blanket decision to force inferior products on American passenger rail? How arrogant and insular. It's no wonder our rail system is so behind other nations.