Preliminary results of a Caltrain study show that an electrified railroad could accommodate two high-speed trains an hour — at 110 mph — without additional tracks
The overhaul of California’s high-speed rail project could bring the Bay Area $1 billion to electrify Caltrain and lay the path for bullet train service between San Francisco and San Jose sooner than anticipated.
The Chronicle has learned that officials with Bay Area transportation agencies are in negotiations with each other, and with the California High-Speed Rail Authority, to craft an agreement that would fund an advanced train-control system, electrify the rails on the Peninsula and eliminate some of the rail crossings - perhaps as soon as 2016, five to 10 years earlier than previous estimates.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to happen, and a lot of moving parts, but this is the closest we’ve been to seeing some real tangible benefit to Caltrain from the high-speed rail project,” said Seamus Murphy, a Caltrain spokesman…
A passenger boards Caltrain at the Mountain View station. Talks are under way to fund an overhaul that would include electric rail, a new control system and elimination of some crossings. Photo: Liz Hafalia
Proposition 1A, the $9.95 billion bond measure approved in 2008 that funded the high-speed rail project, would pay for the Caltrain improvements. But the Bay Area would have to match that money with a significant amount of local funds, perhaps as much as $1 billion. According to the plan, $600 million would come from bond money for high-speed rail service with an additional $400 million coming from bond funds dedicated to transit agencies providing connections to high-speed trains.
But there are still obstacles…
read more: sfgate, 13.02.12.
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