If backers can find the $30 billion in financing needed to make
the proposed California bullet train system a reality, the route
ought to include a stop in the South Valley as the train moves
between the Central Valley and Silicon Valley.
If backers can find the $30 billion in financing needed to make the proposed California bullet train system a reality, the route ought to include a stop in the South Valley as the train moves between the Central Valley and Silicon Valley.
A South Valley stop makes sense for several reasons. It would make access to the bullet train convenient for residents in San Benito County, Salinas and the Central Coast – and increasing usage would improve the train system’s ridership and financial prospects.
A Gilroy stop would put them on board that much sooner and reduce the congestion along U.S. 101 before it gets to Morgan Hill. It also would avoid disastrous disruptions to the pristine Henry W. Coe State Park east of the city. A proposed more northerly route through the Diablo Mountains would require tunneling that could devastate the sensitive environment of the wildland preserve.
Even passionate bullet train advocate Ron Diridon, who serves on the High Speed Rail Authority board, opposes any route that would take it through Coe Park.
The Coe option would likely result in a Morgan Hill stop. There would definitely be an economic benefit for the Morgan Hill area. The tradeoff would be running the rail line through Coe. And that’s a tradeoff we’re unwilling to recommend.
But before a final route decision is made, we need to see the cost alternatives between Coe and Pacheco Pass for a Gilroy stop.
The South Valley and Gilroy in particular make sense as a bullet train stop because it is the current end of the line for Caltrain service – a logical place for passengers to switch from the high speed rail line to the more conventional train to get to other destinations, and a logical spot for Caltrain riders to transfer to the bullet train.
A bullet train stop here would be good for the entire South Valley. It would likely encourage car rental agencies, more restaurants, increase shoppers for the many area retail attractions, could be a boon for Bonfante Gardens, and would in general be an economic shot in the arm.
Leaving aside the bullet train’s high price tag and the state’s economic woes, there’s a lot to be said for establishing bullet train service in California. The idea of making a trip to Los Angeles in two and a half hours without the ever-increasing hassles of air travel is just the first of its potential assets.
Given the population growth expected in California, the fact that our roads are already overcrowded beyond tolerance, and that we daily breathe the deleterious effects of air pollution from vehicles traveling and idling in traffic, we see a lot of reasons to seriously consider making a bullet train a reality in the Golden State.
That said, it’s important to realize that one of the reasons high-speed rail systems are successful in other parts of the world – in Japan and Europe, for example – is that they are paired with stellar local public transit systems. Riders can get off a bullet train without needing to hop into a car. There’s a bus, a trolley or a local train system that will take them affordably and quickly to within a few blocks of their final destination.
For a bullet train system in California to reap the maximum potential benefit, local governments will need to vastly improve their public transit systems. In the South Valley, that means more Caltrain service.
The Silicon Valley stop is one of the few undecided factors in the proposed bullet train’s route. We encourage the High Speed Rail Authority make the South Valley a stop for the bullet train.
