California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

Chapter II – Capital Program
CHAPTER II
CAPITAL PROGRAM
This chapter describes the intercity rail capital program which includes the
unconstrained and constrained ten-year capital program funding levels and project
list, a discussion of historical funding for the capital program, and a discussion of
the equipment, grade-crossing, and station programs.
CAPITAL PROGRAM GOALS
The Department’s goals for its Capital Program are as follows:
• Increase capacity on existing routes to allow increased frequencies and
improved reliability as a result of better on-time performance.
• Reduce train-running times to attract riders and to provide an efficient
service, with travel times directly competitive with the automobile.
• Improve operational functioning and attractiveness of equipment, stations
and facilities, including improved multimodal connectivity.
• Increase the farebox ratio to reach or exceed the Department’s 50 percent
standard. (Furtherance of the three above goals will result in improved costeffectiveness
through an increase in revenues and a reduction in costs, with
the resulting increase in farebox ratio.)
• Improve the safety of State-supported intercity rail service, including grade
crossings.
• Implement projects to allow new cost-effective routes.
These goals are used to guide the development of the ten-year capital program
described below. Every capital project furthers one or more of these goals.
UNCONSTRAINED TEN-YEAR CAPITAL PROGRAM
Figure 2A presents the Department’s ten-year capital program for the three
existing State-supported routes and for new routes. This $3.1 billion capital
program represents an unconstrained program based on project needs, and not
funding expectations. (See Figure 2B below for a constrained capital program
consistent with prior State funding levels.)
The unconstrained Ten-Year Intercity Rail Capital Program was developed from a
number of sources. The first five-year increment of the program (2006-2010) is
based on the latest Corridor Assessment Initatives prepared for Amtrak by the
Department for the Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin Routes and the Capitol
Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) for the Capitol Corridor. The Amtrak
Corridor Initiatives is a five-year capital program that will become part of the next
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