Caltrain calls on CHSRA to refocus environmental review

February 14, 2001 Caltrain Executive Director Mike Scanlon has called on the California High-Speed Rail Authority to refocus the project's environmental impact report on design and construction of an initial phase that could deliver the benefits of high-speed rail to the Peninsula and Caltrain while significantly minimizing or eliminating any adverse impacts on adjacent communities.

"From the outset, this
agency has diligently protected not only the interests of rail service and the
right-of-way, but also the communities through which it passes," Scanlon said. "We’re
committed to protecting these communities."

In a September 1 letter to
CHSRA CEO Roelof Van Ark, Scanlon urged the authority to examine how
construction of the project could be phased so that it results in project
alternatives that are more desirable to Peninsula communities. Scanlon’s letter
cites the Memorandum of Understanding between CHSRA and Caltrain, which states
that the parties will "incorporate high-speed rail in the Caltrain Rail
Corridor on a phased basis".

"Under a phased approach,"
Scanlon wrote, "subsequent construction of the more controversial elements of
the full build out could be deferred, subject to demonstrated need and further
environmental review."

By building it in stages,
Scanlon said the infrastructure could be constructed to accommodate an
operating segment capable of meeting the system’s initial ridership needs. To
date, the authority’s environmental review has only contemplated the full build
out of the system designed to accommodate ridership levels expected in 2030.

Advancing an initial
operating segment would mean building only what is necessary now to meet
immediate and foreseeable demand.

Such construction on the
right-of-way could include portions that are trenched, including some covered
trenching, aerial viaduct or four-track construction and portions where the
current two-track alignments are unchanged, all dependent upon engineering
practicalities and community concerns.

At the September Peninsula
Corridor Joint Powers Board meeting, Scanlon reiterated that he is convinced
that the project can be designed in a way that does more than minimize impacts –
it would improve conditions along the corridor.

"Although we have not been
openly adversarial about it, we are taking the communities’ concerns seriously,"
he said. "It has been our practice all along to speak on the communities’
behalf."

In 2009, Caltrain and the
California High Speed Rail Authority entered into an agreement to jointly plan,
design and construct an interoperable corridor for high-speed rail and
modernized and electrified Caltrain commuter rail service.

As the only transit agency
in the Bay Area without a dedicated source of revenue, Caltrain operations are
challenged by year-to-year structural deficits, an economic model that is
unsustainable.

In recent years, the system
has faced fare increases and service cuts as contributions from Caltrain’s
three funding partners are unable to sustain existing operations.

Electrifying and
modernizing Caltrain, in partnership with CHSRA, would reduce operating costs,
increase service levels and revenues and build a sustainable economic model
that will help preserve commuter rail service on the Peninsula.

Caltrain is a commuter rail
line operating between San Francisco and San Jose, with commuter service to
Gilroy. The service offers a mix of 90 local, limited and express weekday trains;
average weekday ridership is 38,000. Local, hourly service is provided on
Saturdays and Sundays. Caltrain is owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor
Joint Powers Board, a partnership of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation
Agency, the San Mateo County Transit District and the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority.