Building the Train to Nowhere

california-high-speed-rail-station-image.jpg

The California High Speed Rail Authority has approved building its first 54 miles in the San Joaquin Valley. A somewhat longer route, 65 miles, has been indicated in a number of press reports, but Authority documents indicate that only 54 miles of high speed rail track will be built. The route would start in Corcoran, and go through Fresno to Borden, a small, unincorporated community south of Madera. All of this would cost $4.15 billion. The route would include two stations, in Fresno and Hanford/Visalia.

The segment was adopted under pressure by the United States Department of Transportation, which was interested in ensuring that the line would be usable (have "independent utility") by Amtrak should the high speed rail project be cancelled due to lack of funds. The first section of the California high speed rail line would instead be a somewhat incongruously high-tech Corcoran to Borden spur, or perhaps more accurately stub to the region’s rather sparse conventional rail services.

There are appear to have been concerns that growing opposition movements in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas could have delayed construction, which could have put the federal money at risk. The Sacramento Bee's Dan Walters, perhaps the leading political columnist in the state implied an ulterior motive:

"You'd have to be terminally naive not to believe that the splashy announcement, made personally by an Obama administration official in Fresno, was to help an embattled local congressman, Democrat Jim Costa, stave off a very stiff Republican challenge."

Officials representing communities – many of them with high levels of unemployment – on the segment itself were elated, as any would be at the prospect of a rush of new construction jobs, regardless of what was being built. But, most everywhere else the reaction to the selection largely has been negative. Walters labeled it the "train to nowhere" in a November 29 commentary. State Senator Alan Lowenthal, who chairs the legislative committee overseeing the high speed rail project said that the Authority "could be creating an 'orphan' stretch of track, that will never be used by high-speed trains."

Richard Tolmach, president of the California Rail Foundation, an intercity rail advocacy organization, told Authority members " It’s a crazy idea. He went on to say that “You guys are gonna be a laughingstock in Congress."

Already, problems are building in the now more decidedly more conservative Congress. California Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis and 27 colleagues have introduced the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Rescission Act,” which would apply unspent stimulus money to the deficit, including $2 billion that has been promised to the California high speed rail line.

Batteries (and Trains) Not Included: Even after the $4.15 billion has been spent, the Corcoran to Borden rail stub will be incomplete. The Authority's plan includes only the building of the rail bed and the necessary viaducts. There is no money for trains. There is no money for the electrical infrastructure necessary to power the trains. Trains and electricity infrastructure would add at least 15 percent to the bill, based upon previous California High Speed Rail reports. Thus, when and if completed, the trains and electrification would lift the cost of the Corcoran to Borden high speed rail stub to at least $4.8 billion.

Bare Bones Stations: The plan calls for building only "basic" stations, with two tracks (one in each direction). That is fine if the line is serving Amtrak and there are only a few trains per day. But the high speed rail plan assumes frequent trains, including some that stop at all stations, some express trains that skip some stations and some express trains running non-stop from the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco to Union Station in Los Angeles. The only place that an express train can pass a slower train is at a station. That means that passing tracks must be built at virtually all stations. The passing tracks (two interior tracks in addition to the two tracks for stopped trains) required in stations are illustrated in this California High Speed Rail illustration (also above).

The full system, or (perhaps the more likely outcome) a truncated San Jose to Palmdale line (with slower running lines over the commuter rail tracks into San Francisco and Los Angeles), would require passing tracks at the Fresno and Hanford/Visalia stations. Rebuilding these stations would increase the cost above the $4.8 billion, and that's before the seemingly inevitable cost escalation.

Indeed, the Corcoran to Borden stub entails a potentially large cost increase compared to previous California High Speed Rail Authority documents. After making all of the necessary adjustments to update the last available segment costs to the cost accounting method ("year of expenditure" dollars), the cost of the Corcoran to Borden stub could be at least 30 percent higher than would have been expected in the present $43 billion San Francisco to Anaheim cost.

Applied to the entire line, a 30 percent cost escalation could take the price of the San Francisco to Anaheim line to more than $55 billion. Based upon cost ratios released by the Authority in 2008, the later extensions to Sacramento and San Diego would lift the bill to more than staggering $80 billion. Even that does not pay the entire bill, because promises have been made in state legislation for improvements across Altamont pass from Stockton to the East Bay and Oakland.

Not that coming up with any of this money will be easy, particularly with a more deficit conscious Congress. Congressman John Mica of Florida, who will likely lead the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has promised a review of all federal high speed rail grants. The Authority expects to obtain funding from local governments in California, a number of which are teetering toward financial insolvency.

The Authority expects between $10 and $12 billion from private investors. These potential investors will all be aware of the fact that virtually every dollar of private investment in new high-speed rail lines has been lost or required a government bailout. They will not participate without subsidies, which are prohibited by California law. Finally, all these elements of the financing plan will be made even more problematic if the first phase of the project continues to rise from $43 billion to $55 billion.

Washington analyst C. Kenneth Orski noted that the Corcoran to Borden stub could "become a huge embarrassment for the Administration" and that by its train to nowhere ”casts doubt on the soundness of the entire federal high-speed rail program and its decision-making process."

Then, even if California gets to keep the federal money, there are still formidable financial barriers. A likely result is high speed rail in Amtrak mode which probably won't make much difference to passengers riding the infrequent San Joaquin service. After the Authority action, Bill Bronte, who heads the rail division of the California Department of Transportation said that "The improvements in performance might be less than one would expect." But that might not bother contractors and consultants who can feast on what might prove to be the most expensive conventional intercity train project in history.

Wendell Cox is a Visiting Professor, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris and the author of “War on the Dream: How Anti-Sprawl Policy Threatens the Quality of Life



















Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Very interesting blog. Alot

Very interesting blog. Alot of blogs I see these days don't really provide anything that I'm interested in, but I'm most definately interested in this one. Just thought that I would post and let you know.
whitening face cream

tre em

gioi thieu mevabe cung cap do dung cho me va be , sua bot Dumex chinh hang, sua tuoi vinamilk 100% nguyen chat, sua Nestle cho tre em tai sieu thi sua bot lon nhat viet nam , ban co the xem them cac san pham sua Physiolac gia tot nhat hien nay , cung voi Bao moi choi game iwin online tren mobile

I recently found many useful

I recently found many useful information in your website especially this blog page. Among the lots of comments on your articles. Thanks for sharing.
independent medical PA NJ DE MD DC

The most significant issue

The most significant issue confronted by travelers if they go out in their dwelling city is said to lodging. Owing to insufficient awareness lots of people turn out choosing a incorrect and high-priced lodge for them selves. hotel rates

howdy, your websites are

howdy, your websites are really good. I appreciate your work.
energy comparison

New

Very interesting article you have got here. I love reading this kind of stuff. This is truly a great read for me. I hope to see more articles from you. Interest Networking

Train to nowhere

I'm baffled as to why HSR proponents aren't fighting tooth and nail to kill this project. What still may end up being the only HSR project project attempted in this country is going to be done under the worst possible circumstances. There's a good chance this could kill off all but the most die hard of public supporters of HSR.

Lyle

It is interesting that the French in building the TGV systems did not run the lines all the way to the city centers but stopped at the edge of the city and used the old lines to run to the city center.
In addition to the city links there is another very expensive link that has to be built, the link from Bakersfield to Mohave. Recall that is the site of the Loop on the current rail road built in the 1870s. The last I have read HSR means something like 20 or more miles of tunnels to pull this off. (Going up 3500 feet in 40 miles is quite a challenge for a railroad). Perhaps the old trick of the Santa Fe to get a fast SF-La service needs to be pulled off (see Rival Rails), run buses up 5 to Bakersfield, and then buses from Gilroy north. The Santa Fe ran buses to Bakersfield and a Bus from Richmond to San Francisco. In this case the issue is that the Santa Fe tracks stopped in Richmond, only the SP really had tracks on the SF side of the bay (They got their first).

Great Plains HSR

If the federal government is willing to spend this kind of cash on HSR I offer up the Corridor between Winnipeg Manitoba and Sioux Falls, South Dakota as a start, then on to strategic points in Texas. This is an area that has demonstrated remarkable resiliency and growth recently and there are many collaborative networks and partnerships underway or being developed that could bear even greater economic returns in the next 50 years.
I can only imagine that the construction costs will be less and there will be no NIMBYism or regulatory guillotines along the route - leaders will push for it and people will welcome this. I can't speak for them but I believe the Canadian and Manitoban government will do their part since building connections to their largest trading partner is a priority to them.
All I am saying is this: if the federal government is going to spend this kind of money outside the major population centers on the east coast then put the HSR in a place where it will truly stimulate more economic growth. And that is the Great Plains my friends.