California Regional Rail Advantages
At present, Amtrak California and commuter rail services in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles Metro Area, and San Diego Metro Area are slowed by routes more suitable to freight trains. Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, Amtrak Capitol Corridor, and Amtrak San Joaquin have too many 1-track sections where trains run 30-60 mph and only reach 80-90 mph in short stretches. That is changing.
California HSR will be the spine of an Integrated Intercity Passenger Rail System. Once built, it will connect to Amtrak San Joaquin, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, Amtrak Capitol Corridor, plus Metrolink, Caltrain, ACE commuter rail services for convenient passenger transfers. It will also benefit passenger rail between Los Angeles and San Diego.
From evidence gathered in America’s Northeast and worldwide, we know that weregional trains reach 93-124 mph over 50+ miles and 15-30-minute frequency, their ridership also grows 3X to 5X. That is why Amtrak California routes are being upgraded to 90-125 mph concurrently with California HSR construction in steps spelled out in the following chart.
Burbank Airport-Los Angeles-Anaheim-Oceanside San Diego Regional Rail Complements California HSR
In 2019, the 351-mile Amtrak Pacific Surfliner route was the second-busiest Amtrak route with 2.8 million annual riders. Over 5 million more people rode Metrolink commuter trains serving Los Angeles County and Orange County, and COASTER commuter trains serving San Diego County on the route they share with Amtrak Pacific Surfliner. Metrolink owns most of Los Angeles County and Orange County rail segments, while COASTER owns most of San Diego County rail segments.
Metrolink and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner passengers often transfer at Van Nuys, Burbank Airport South, Glendale, Los Angeles, Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, San Juan Capistrano, and Oceanside stations. Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Station can easily become a future station. COASTER and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner passengers often transfer in Oceanside, Solana Beach, and Old Town San Diego stations.
Metrolink customer surveys indicate that many more people in the 71-mile Van Nuys-Burbank Airport-Los Angeles-Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs-Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine-Laguna Niguel corridor segment want faster, more frequent trains. To tap that unmet demand, Metrolink commuter rail is gradually upgrading 3 of its 7 routes to Regional Rail status shared with Amtrak Pacific Surfliner today and California High-Speed Rail (HSR) in the future. COASTER commuter rail is upgrading the route shared with Amtrak Pacific Surfliner as well.
California HSR and its partners are requesting federal grants to upgrade Los Angeles Union Station with run-thru tracks and build more railroad overpasses in the Burbank Airport-Los Angeles-Anaheim corridor. A byproduct of those projects is that 90% of the Burbank Airport-Glendale-Los Angeles-Fullerton-Anaheim-Irvine-Oceanside-San Diego corridor is being upgraded to support 90 mph by 2029-30. Amtrak Pacific Surfliner’s Los Angeles-San Diego trip time should be reduced from 2 hours 56 minutes in 2021 to 2 hours 35 minutes.
Despite progress underway, 13 miles in the corridor will remain a 35 mph chokepoint due to 1-track for 2 miles in San Juan Capistrano, followed by 2 tracks for 4 miles in Dana Point, then 1 track again for 7 miles of San Clemente between Capistrano Beach and Trestles Beach. Even if other upgrades were completed, that 13-mile chokepoint would limit Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to 18 daily roundtrips, Metrolink to 18 daily roundtrips, and BNSF Freight Rail to 3-4 daily roundtrips.
The 2024 California State Rail Plan calls for Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, Amtrak Capitol Corridor, Caltrain, ACE, Metrolink, and COASTER commute rail conversions to electric-powered 110-125 mph Regional Rail status by 2040.
Located within the San Fernando Valley of the Los Angeles Metro Area, Van Nuys Station is a hub for Amtrak, Metrolink, Intercity Buses, and LAX shuttle buses. A new LA Metro Light Rail line will reach Van Nuys Station by 2028-29. A high-priority LA Metro Heavy Rail line is planned to open between Van Nuys Station and Wilshire-Westwood Metro Station by 2035. More commuters will want Amtrak and Metrolink transfers at Van Nuys Station.
To best handle increased demand, 2 railroad over/underpasses, 1 pedestrian underpass, 2 street closures, and electric rail infrastructure should be built in the 5 miles between Van Nuys Station and Burbank Airport South Station. In that manner, Siemens ACS-64 Dual-Power Locomotives “could” also leverage 44 miles of California HSR’s electric infrastructure for 49 total miles of faster, more frequent electric trains in the Van Nuys-Burbank Airport-Los Angeles-Anaheim corridor segment by 2032. As Dual-Power locomotives, their diesel engines would operate on non-electrified corridor segments.
Demand has also grown for better Amtrak and Metrolink service in the 56 miles between Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, and Oceanside. With more railroad over/underpasses, street closures, and electric infrastructure by 2035, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink could then run 100-110 mph over the 105-mile Van Nuys-Los Angeles-Anaheim-Oceanside corridor segment outlined below.
Regional Rail upgrade area for Amtrak, Metrolink, and COASTER trains outlined in lime-green
Most freeway widening projects in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties will finish by 2025-26. Though a fix is underway to prevent more landslide closures around the Del Mar Bluffs by 2027, California, Los Angeles County, Orange County, and San Diego County should accelerate the corridor’s long term Regional Rail upgrade.
California, Orange County, and San Diego County are already committing over $1.5 billion/7 years towards 2 Main Tracks, railroad over/underpasses, street closures, and station upgrades for Amtrak-Metrolink-COASTER service to reach 90 mph status. BNSF freight rail company is adding more Siding Track mileage for better on-time performance of military & commercial freight shipments between the Port of San Diego and Orange County. More Siding Track also enables more passenger trains/hour to pass by.
San Diego’s Santa Fe Depot hosts Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and COASTER trains with a San Diego Trolley station footsteps away and San Diego Cruiseport only 1 block away. Given all those factors, the Anaheim-Oceanside-San Diego corridor segment should qualify for $6 billion/9 years of federal grants.
Spanish-style architecture inside Santa Fe Station, downtown San Diego; (C) Soul Of America
If federal grants add $6 billion to a larger $3 billion investment from California, Orange County, and San Diego County for $9 billion/9 years, then a Del Mar Rail Tunnel, a Miramar Hill Rail Tunnel, and enough railroad over/underpasses and street closures can be built in 90% of the corridor by 2035. COASTER could also justify switching to 110 mph electric trains. Amtrak Pacific Surfliner’s Los Angeles-San Diego trip time would drop to 2 hours 15-16 minutes.
Only a 13-mile San Juan Capistrano-Trestles Beach Bypass Tunnel would remain for a possible start of funding in 2037 and project completion by 2045. By then, Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, running completely on electric power, could cut the Los Angeles-San Diego trip time to 2 hours. Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, Metrolink & COASTER trains could reach a combined 76 daily roundtrips to attract 5X more ridership compared to 2019 for dramatic congestion relief to the adjacent I-5 Freeway.
San Jose-Fremont-Oakland-Martinez Regional Rail Complements California HSR
Amtrak Capitol Corridor and ACE commuter rail in the San Francisco Bay Area also make a compelling case for significant federal grants. Capitol Corridor is the 4th or 5th busiest Amtrak route and shares part of its regional route with ACE from San Jose Diridon Station to an existing Fremont Station. The Amtrak Capitol Corridor route is also shared with Amtrak Coast Starlight long-distance trains between San Jose and Martinez.
Before the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s federal funding was approved, state & local funding of the Amtrak Capitol Corridor South Bay Connect Project planned to add 2 passenger-only tracks in a more direct route between San Jose and Oakland, 1 railroad overpass, and a larger Fremont Station in a better location by 2027. ACE has a similar upgrade project advancing.
The state and counties previously committed $1.65 billion to Amtrak Capitol Corridor and ACE Regional Rail upgrades. The project merits $2 billion in matching federal grants. If so, Amtrak Capitol Corridor, Amtrak Coast Starlight, and ACE commuter trains would run 90 mph in the San Jose-Oakland segment by 2030. Amtrak Capitol Corridor should reach 18 daily roundtrips and ACE would double to 10 daily roundtrips. Freight trains from San Jose and the Port of Oakland would also run more frequently with better on-time performance.
Google is building a 60-acre campus next to San Jose Diridon Station, which is also close to San Jose International Airport. By 2033, California HSR, Caltrain, Amtrak Capitol Corridor, ACE, Amtrak Coast Starlight, BART Metro Rail, Santa Clara Valley Light Rail, and the Airport Shuttle should transfer over 10 million passengers/year at San Jose Diridon Station.
Lastly, Amtrak San Joaquin and ACE commuter routes only need 40 or 50 Quad Gate Systems for safer railroad crossings to reach 90 mph. When Amtrak San Joaquin trains connect to California HSR Merced Station, their ridership will likely double.
The integration of Amtrak-California Regional Rail and California High-Speed Rail will be a huge advantage to travelers and commuters.