California State Rail Plan 2007-08 to 2017-18

Chapter X – Potential New ServicesThe Department believes this extension is a good candidate for rail servicebecause:• Amtrak currently operates the Coast Starlight on this Route, with existingstations at Sacramento, Chico, and Redding.• The demographics of the Route are positive: the northern Sacramento Valleyhas a fast growing population; Redding represents the urban hub for thenorthern part of the State; and the California State University at Chico is afocus of activity and population.• Current ridership on this bus route is the second highest of all Californiadedicated bus routes after Los Angeles-Bakersfield.POTENTIAL INTERCITY RAIL ROUTESThis section includes a discussion of three routes where funding is not proposed inthe time period of this plan: Los Angeles to Indio (Coachella Valley),San Francisco to Monterey, and Los Angeles to Las Vegas.LOS ANGELES TO INDIO (COACHELLA VALLEY)State-supported intercity passenger rail service from Los Angeles to Indio wouldextend rail service to a fast growing population center in the southeast of the State.BackgroundCurrently Amtrak’s Sunset Limited provides three-times per week service fromLos 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 2005-06.There has been strong local interest in rail service to the Coachella Valley since1991 when the Riverside County Transportation Commission published theLos Angeles-Coachella Valley-Imperial County Intercity Rail Feasibility Studythat evaluated the feasibility of operating three daily round-trip State-supportedintercity trains on the route. In 1995, the Department published the Calexico-Coachella Valley-Los Angeles Rail Corridor Study for the CaliforniaTransportation Commission.The most recent study titled the Coachella Valley Passenger Rail Feasibility Studywas prepared for the Coachella Valley Association of Governments in 1999.The study included operating and capital cost estimates for the route and proposestwo daily intercity round-trip trains. The study proposed operating fromLos Angeles to the Coachella Valley using the BNSF route between Los Angelesand Colton, and the UP route eastward to Indio. Stations were proposed atLos Angeles, Fullerton, Riverside, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Indio.The study estimated $9.3 million in capital costs, not including rolling stock.171