California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

Chapter X – Potential New Services
• The demographics of the Route are positive: the northern Sacramento
Valley has a fast growing population; Redding represents the urban hub for
the northern part of the State; and the California State University at Chico
is a focus of activity and population.
• Current ridership on this bus route is the second highest of all California
dedicated bus routes after Los Angeles-Bakersfield.
LOS ANGELES TO INDIO (COACHELLA VALLEY)
State-supported intercity passenger rail service from Los Angeles to Indio would
extend rail service to a fast growing population center in the southeast of the State.
Background
Currently Amtrak’s Sunset Limited provides three-times per week service from
Los Angeles to Pomona, Ontario, and Palm Springs on its route to New Orleans.
San Joaquin trains provide once a day connecting buses to the Coachella Valley.
Ridership on this route was 32,000 in 2004-05.
There has been strong local interest in rail service to the Coachella Valley since
1991 when the RCTC published the Los Angeles-Coachella Valley-Imperial
County Intercity Rail Feasibility Study that evaluated the feasibility of operating
three daily round-trip State-supported intercity trains on the route. In 1995,
the Department published the Calexico-Coachella Valley-Los Angeles Rail
Corridor Study for the California Transportation Commission.
The most recent study titled the Coachella Valley Passenger Rail Feasibility Study
was prepared for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments in 1999.
The study includes operating and capital cost estimates for the route and proposes
two daily intercity round-trip trains. The study proposes operating from
Los Angeles to the Coachella Valley using the BNSF route between Los Angeles
and Colton, and the UP route eastward to Indio. Stations are proposed at
Los Angeles, Fullerton, Riverside, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Indio.
The study estimates $9.3 million in capital costs, not including rolling stock.
The study proposes local funding for the new station at Palm Desert. The City of
Indio received a State-matching grant of $1.5 million to construct its new station.
A serious impediment to intercity rail service between Los Angeles and Indio is
the UP’s recent decision not to consider operation of new passenger train corridors
at this time. This route has heavy freight traffic that makes the operation of
passenger service difficult.
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