California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

Chapter X – Potential New Services
• There is strong ridership on the one daily Coast Starlight round-trip and on
the three daily Amtrak Thruway buses.
• An existing local organization –the CRCC, is actively planning the service,
and implementation plans have been completed.
SACRAMENTO TO RENO
The extension of intercity rail service from Sacramento to Reno would bring Statesupported
rail service to the Truckee/Tahoe and Reno/Sparks tourist areas as well
as provide relief to the highly congested I-80 –Bay Area to Reno corridor.
Background
Amtrak’s California Zephyr and connecting buses to the Capitol Corridor and
San Joaquins serve Reno and intermediate I-80 Corridor points.
The California Zephyr makes stops at Reno, Truckee, Colfax, Roseville, and
Sacramento once daily in each direction on its route to Chicago. Also, Amtrak
buses connect to three San Joaquins and four Capitol Corridor trains and serve
Reno/Sparks, Truckee, Soda Springs, Colfax, Auburn, Rocklin, Roseville, and
Sacramento. Ridership on this bus route was 37,000 in 2004-05.
In 1995, the Department and the Nevada Department of Transportation published
the Sacramento-Tahoe-Reno Intercity Rail Study that examined the feasibility of
expanding passenger rail service along the I-80/Tahoe corridor from Sacramento
to Truckee and Reno/Sparks on the UP line on which the California Zephyr
currently operates. A number of scenarios were studied involving extending
varying numbers of Capitol Corridor trains from Sacramento to Reno/Sparks, and
all scenarios were determined to be feasible. In 2002, the CCJPA and the
Placer County Transportation Planning Agency initiated a study to extend the
Capitol Corridor to Reno. The study was intended to provide current ridership,
revenue, and train operating cost estimates for the train extension, and the capital
costs for necessary station and track improvements. However, the study was
suspended in March 2005 as a result of the UP’s decision to not conduct additional
network modeling or consider operation of new passenger train service to Reno at
this time. The UP has experienced a significant increase in freight traffic and has
made a business decision to focus its efforts at this time on addressing additional
freight demand.
Operating Plan
The Department’s ten-year operating plan includes the extension of one
Capitol Corridor round-trip from Auburn to Reno/Sparks in 2008-09, and
a second round-trip in 2010-11. This rail service would be supplemented by
continued operation of existing bus service that runs over the same route as the
train, but at other times of the day. This service would require an appropriate level
of financial participation from the State of Nevada (and potentially Nevada
business interests).
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