High-Speed Rail Plan Electrifies Caltrain

Say what you will about  by the California High-Speed Rail Authority—that it’s still too expensive and risky, perhaps—but for , the new proposed design offers a rare victory.

Rather than leaving open the option of an aerial high-speed track up the Peninsula, as some previous design alternatives had called for, the new draft plan explicitly calls for .

Under the new “phased implementation” approach, the rail authority would focus on building a “Bay to Basin” section connecting San Jose to the San Fernando Valley.

These trains would at first link up with existing commuter rail systems, allowing riders to travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles by making a few station transfers.

After that 410-mile section is complete, and if the rail authority can raise the money, they would then upgrade Caltrain and build new dedicated lines in Southern California in order to allow high-speed trains to travel all the way to and from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

California State Senator Joe Simitian said this represents an important change from previous plans.

“On a local level, the thing that is most significant is that essentially they’ve adopted a blended approach, which is what ,” Simitian said.

Read at Palo Alto Patch.