California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

2005-06 – 2015-16 California State Rail Plan
Operating Plan
The Department’s ten-year operating plan includes one daily round-trip between
Los Angeles and Indio in 2010-11 and a second daily round-trip in 2013-14.
The Department believes this extension is a good candidate for intercity rail
service because:
• There is existing Amtrak intercity rail service on a good part of the route,
and all but one station already exists.
• There is strong local support and financial commitment.
• There is existing moderate bus ridership on the route, with a growing
population.
POTENTIAL INTERCITY RAIL ROUTES
This section includes a discussion of two routes where funding is not proposed in
the time period of this plan: San Francisco to Monterey and Los Angeles to
Las Vegas.
SAN FRANCISCO TO MONTEREY
State-supported intercity rail service from San Francisco to Monterey would
connect the San Francisco Bay Area to an important tourist and population center
of the State that currently has very inadequate intercity transportation.
Background
Currently, the only Amtrak service existing between Monterey and San Francisco
is via the Coast Starlight, which provides one daily round-trip from Oakland to
Salinas, with bus connections to San Francisco from Oakland and to Monterey
from Salinas. In June 2005, Caltrans discontinued Capitol Corridor feeder bus
service from San Jose to Monterey due to low ridership.
The TAMC has conducted a number of studies on train service options between
San Francisco and Monterey. The San Francisco-Monterey Intercity Rail Service
Implementation Plan was completed in 1998. In 2003, TAMC completed the
Monterey Intercity Rail Project Study, which included conceptual engineering,
initial cost estimates, and environmental screening for the project.
In the near-term, TAMC is planning a new service to link Monterey to
San Francisco through a combination of local service and Caltrain commuter rail
service. Starting in 2009, local light rail or bus rapid transit service is planned to
connect Monterey and Marina, and later extend to Castroville and possibly
Salinas. The TAMC is concurrently working with Caltrain to extend commuter
rail service in 2009 to Salinas from its current terminus in Gilroy. The extension
of Caltrain commuter rail service to Monterey County would serve new stations in
Pajaro and Castroville, and end in Salinas. The TAMC is working to ensure that
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