A plan to run high-speed trains through Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley is drawing opposition even though it is still on the drawing board. No plan for fast trains in Pleasanton, Livermore or other areas has been approved.
The California High Speed Rail Authority – the agency planning the system does have a vague plan for an Altamont Rail Corridor which would run from San Jose to Stockton. That plan would use electric powered commuter trains to run over the Altamont Pass and through Pleasanton and Livermore.
Pleasanton city officials have already gone on record stating that they were opposed to running high speed trains through their city’s downtown. When CHSRA officials presented plans for the corridor at an April 20, 2011, Pleasanton Council meeting they were met with opposition. The CHRSA proposal called for a tunnel or an elevated rail line through Pleasanton.
The City of Pleasanton will go to court to stop any effort to bring high speed trains through downtown, City Attorney Jonathan Lowell said at the meeting. Vice-Mayor Cheryl Cook-Kallio voiced her strong opposition. City Manager Nelson Fialho said there was no rail corridor in the city’s plans.
Cook Kallio did not oppose the project and suggested the rail line be placed between highways 580 and 680 instead of running through town.
The city may not need to take any action because no funding has been approved for the Altamont Rail Corridor. The corridor was not included in the high speed rail plan approved by voters in 2008. It is estimated that the 110 -mile long Altamont Rail Corridor would cost $7 billion to build.
If the Altamont Rail Corridor is not built, Tri-Valley residents would have to drive to San Jose or Stockton to catch the bullet train. The CHRSA is in the stages of planning two rail lines. One would run from Sacramento to Downtown Los Angeles via the San Joquain Valley and Bakersfield. The other would run from San Francisco to Merced via San Jose and Gilroy. Construction of the rail lines is scheduled to start next year. The first trains would run in 2020 under current plans.
Even the construction of these lines is in doubt because the city of Palo Alto which formerly supported the project has come out against it. Other critics have charged that the CHRSA has violated the proposition that created it Proposition 1A and should be shut down.
A report by the Legislative Analysis Office (a state agency that analyzes legislation) concurred with the critics. The LAO found that the CHRSA’s current business plan conflicts with Proposition 1A. It also found that the agency might not be able to construct rail lines without federal funding. Since Republicans in Congress are strongly opposed to high speed rail those funds remain in doubt.
So it looks like any high speed train in the Tri Valley area is still a long time off.
