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High Speed Rail
CSLB Position on High Speed Rail :
People may wonder why we need High Speed Rail in California, or anywhere else for that matter! In this state, we are at
36 million residents and climbing. The freeways are jammed, the airports are bulging at the seams, and we have no other
viable, timely alternative way to travel. During the 9-11 debacle, the airports were shut down and people were stuck,
unable to get to their destinations...High Speed Rail would have provided another expedient, efficient way to travel.
High Speed Rail will create thousands of jobs within this state...many of them are good paying, permanent jobs. The CSLB
is doing all in its power to secure the new High Speed Rail operating jobs for you and for our future. Sure, High Speed
Rail comes at a cost, but the longer we wait the more expensive it will be to develop and the worse our travel options become.
The BLET has adopted a "position paper" on High Speed Rail. Find a link to it below this statement. This same position paper has
been shared with many Congressmen, Senators and State Legislators as well as others. The main difference you may discover in our
position paper in comparison to what you may hear from other entities, we support our idea that High Speed Rail would be
easier to implement and cheaper to develop if we get a buy-in from the freight carriers. We submit that if the freight carriers
allow High Speed Rail to use their right-of-way (land) to create a specific, dedicated track for high speed passenger service,
their reward will be additional infrastructure that they may use whenever business gets back to where it was prior to the recession.
If you remember, the carriers had trouble finding room for their trains....sidings and yards were blocked, etc... This idea saves
the High Speed Rail Authority from having to secure land to build this project through acquisitions and eminent domain proceedings,
which are very expensive.
Additionally, with more infrastructure comes more freight hauling capabilities, which means to you and me...more good paying jobs.
The BLET High Speed Rail position paper outlines the opportunity for the highest speed freight train...currently, intermodal
trains...to use the high speed rail tracks when high speed passenger service is not running. Of course, in California that
could be a problem since the authority wants a 220 mph high speed rail line, and at that speed, the FRA won't allow freight and
passenger to mix. However, in other corridors around the country, they are satisfied with 110 mph train scenario or better.
California could change its mind on 220 mph and reduce it to the cheaper, more attainable 110 mph speed service mentioned before.
36 million residents and climbing. The freeways are jammed, the airports are bulging at the seams, and we have no other
viable, timely alternative way to travel. During the 9-11 debacle, the airports were shut down and people were stuck,
unable to get to their destinations...High Speed Rail would have provided another expedient, efficient way to travel.
High Speed Rail will create thousands of jobs within this state...many of them are good paying, permanent jobs. The CSLB
is doing all in its power to secure the new High Speed Rail operating jobs for you and for our future. Sure, High Speed
Rail comes at a cost, but the longer we wait the more expensive it will be to develop and the worse our travel options become.
The BLET has adopted a "position paper" on High Speed Rail. Find a link to it below this statement. This same position paper has
been shared with many Congressmen, Senators and State Legislators as well as others. The main difference you may discover in our
position paper in comparison to what you may hear from other entities, we support our idea that High Speed Rail would be
easier to implement and cheaper to develop if we get a buy-in from the freight carriers. We submit that if the freight carriers
allow High Speed Rail to use their right-of-way (land) to create a specific, dedicated track for high speed passenger service,
their reward will be additional infrastructure that they may use whenever business gets back to where it was prior to the recession.
If you remember, the carriers had trouble finding room for their trains....sidings and yards were blocked, etc... This idea saves
the High Speed Rail Authority from having to secure land to build this project through acquisitions and eminent domain proceedings,
which are very expensive.
Additionally, with more infrastructure comes more freight hauling capabilities, which means to you and me...more good paying jobs.
The BLET High Speed Rail position paper outlines the opportunity for the highest speed freight train...currently, intermodal
trains...to use the high speed rail tracks when high speed passenger service is not running. Of course, in California that
could be a problem since the authority wants a 220 mph high speed rail line, and at that speed, the FRA won't allow freight and
passenger to mix. However, in other corridors around the country, they are satisfied with 110 mph train scenario or better.
California could change its mind on 220 mph and reduce it to the cheaper, more attainable 110 mph speed service mentioned before.