01/28/2024
Hello everyone,
I have several updates on Train related issues. Believe me this level of activity is unusual for the Train Coalition.
1. I talked with the FRA Quiet Zone inspector. He said the City is making good headway with their compliance issues for the Quiet Zone (QZ). There is a travel study requirement that the city has to do to maintain the QZ. It’s a traffic count, which must be done every 2-3 years. This number goes into a FRA calculator and determines the level of risk of the QZ corridor and whether the supplemental safety measures installed still provide an adequate amount of risk reduction required to qualify. They use that information to determine if additional safety measures are needed.
After the City's work is done and all the paperwork is filed, the FRA must review everything. Hopefully the QZ is restored very soon but don't be surprised or disturbed IF the horns continue to blow for a few days into February, while the FRA completes its evaluation.
2. Airport Connector: SANDAG's Elevated Automated People Mover (APM) will be presented to the SANDAG Board again in February or March. We will need representation. They are adding the Trolley to the CEQA evaluation, which is great. Advocacy from this group and other people got the Trolley into the environmental study. The Trolley is a much better alternative to the airport. We asked that the Port's proposed streetcar idea from Broadway to the Airport with dedicated transit lanes on Harbor Drive be included as well.
However, there is a problem with any new rail. At the state level, light rail, streetcars or people movers operate under rail rules of the Public Utility Commission. PUC has a rule restricting new rail to above or below ground at intersections. That is why the Trolley extension on Genesee is above ground. That is why the APM is above ground. A trolley extension to the airport will have to follow the same rules, and why we want that new extension, whether above or below ground (called above or below GRADE), outside of downtown.
3. I talked with LOSSAN's (Amtrak's ) Managing Director Jason Jewell Friday about 2 issues.
a. Of course the bluff collapse at San Clemente is a major problem. He hopes that the rail is open in a couple of days, but that depends on what they find when the debris is removed and the section of the pedestrian bridge is removed. A Protect-in-Place study is already underway from the earlier problems to determine a short-medium term solution (which probably covers 20-30 years). CalSTA has already been asked to do a long term study, which may require the rail to be relocated away from the coast, like they are doing in Del Mar. That would cost Billions. The Coastal Commission is also heavily involved in whatever solutions are available.
b. Several of you are aware of the $300,000 we got in 2018, with the help of then Assemblyman Gloria, to find a new overnight layover/maintenance facility for Amtrak that would provide all the maintenance capabilities they need. Santa Fe Depot is insufficient as a layover and maintenance facility. That study resulted in a new yard adjacent to the BNSF rail yard southeast of Petco Park, called the Cesar Chavez Yard. A lot of work was completed on that option including an environmental study and drawings and plans. For various reasons, BNSF decided they are going to use that area for other projects and Amtrak lost that option. So instead of the layover facility moving in a few years, they are back to the drawing board.
Jason said the original study also identified a potential layover site in the Miramar military base and they are looking into that location, which would require a rail extension. They are already speaking with the DOD to consider the feasibility of that location. However, the State Rail Plan is considering Coaster and Amtrak service extensions to San Ysidro. If that becomes a serious extension, which partly depends on ridership studies, then the layover/maintenance facility may be better suited down there. Nothing has been decided.
As part of the Federal Infrastructure Bill, the FRA wants to identify and prioritize projects in the pipeline for extensions. He said Caltrans is looking into all of this. Rail projects often take decades to complete and lots of funding. A significant amount of the rail money in the Infrastructure Bill is being allocated to High Speed Rail.
Bottom line: At the moment, there is no new San Diego layover/maintenance facility being built or designed, but they are still pursuing options.
All the best,
Janet
