Why is Engel so hot to stop the California high speed train? It's
under discussion in Sacramento right now. There are lots of reasons,
many of which you have seen before in these emails. However, there
is one of critical importance to all of us in Menlo Park and
Atherton. We have brought this to your attention in the past, but
now an article in the San Jose Mercury News (David Dutton: High-speed
rail deserves support from Californians, 5.10.07) makes this same
point, ironically in an attempt to garner public support for this
mega-boondoggle. I quote only a part of the key paragraph here:

"Here's where the Bay Area really stands to gain if high-speed rail
is built. One of the first segments would probably be constructed
parallel to Caltrain. In the process, high-speed rail would help pay
for improvements Caltrain has long sought: a new set of tracks for
express trains, grade separations (constructing underpasses and
overpasses that would eliminate the conflict between cars and
trains); and building the Transbay Terminal in downtown San
Francisco, a Western equivalent of New York City's Grand Central
Station. . . . Those are just a few reasons why the Silicon Valley
Leadership Group, of which I am a member, has long championed
high-speed rail."

Exactly. So, even if we were to believe that the HSR is a risky, $40
billion plus gamble, never mind. At least it will cover capital and
operational costs for Caltrain. Isn't that compelling! Meanwhile,
Caltrain is a go-it-alone rail service, a single thread running up
and down the Peninsula. This thread ought to be woven into an urban
mass-transit fabric, the warp and woof connecting everybody with
everyplace in the Bay Area. However, all Caltrain really cares about
is upgrading its own bells and whistles.They build their empire and
we, the commuters, get less service. In short, they just don't get
it.

At the risk of repeating myself: What the HSR funds will deliver for
Caltrain (and for themselves) is, electrification, at least two
HSR-dedicated additional tracks, a widened rail corridor, all
crossings grade separated, track grades adjusted up or down, trees
cleared out on both sides of the corridor, and a lot of eminent
domain takings along the corridor. Such construction will tear up
downtown Menlo Park for years. It will introduce temporary tracks
(shoofly) next to the rail corridor through Menlo Park and Atherton
(and everywhere else) during the construction. It is really hard to
appreciate just how destructive all this will be.

And, if you believe that the HSR route might not go up the Peninsula
to SF, instead using the Altamont route, forget about it. Where will
HSR stop? Maybe Palo Alto, maybe Redwood City, but not both. And,
nowhere else between San Jose and San Francisco. That makes the rest
of us just one of the "pass- through" cities.

Caltrain is praying for the high speed train to do two things: 1.
bail them out of their perennial deficit with HSR lease fees, and 2.
build them the shiny, new dream railroad that they wish for but can't
afford. The irony of this is that Caltrain is itself already in the
high speed train business, or why would they call it the "baby
bullet?" Do we really need a second high speed train on the Caltrain
corridor? What, are they planning to compete on ticket price and hold
weekly races?

Dear friends, this is not rocket surgery. All this rail business is
not about, or for us, it's for the pockets of the high-speed rail
industry, their lobbyists and financial beneficiaries, and also for
Caltrain and its "suits."

Martin

-- 
**********************
Martin Engel
1621 Stone Pine Lane
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650:323-1670
martinengel@earthlink.net
**********************