The Future of Regional Passenger Rail
CoastalRailNow’s advocacy for commuter rail between Oxnard and Goleta must be on the right track. Recent media coverage about the increasing ridership on Amtrak and Metrolink serves to show how people are rediscovering rail for their regional transportation needs.
Even before $4.00 gas, CoastalRailNow
spent many Saturdays at the SB and Ventura Farmer’s Market sharing with many hundreds of people. At the Ventura market we connected with the commuters who make the daily trek from the Ventura area north to Santa Barbara and Goleta for their jobs. They always asked the same question: Why isn’t there a peak hour rail service as an option to the slow daily grind of driving? And what would it take to make it happen?
In response, hundreds of “Why should everyone be stuck in traffic” postcards were handed out to these commuters, who mailed them to the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) and Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG). That simple postcard let the Boards of Supervisors of both counties know their constituents were asking for peak hour rail transportation. Many copies of The Metrolink Story were also distributed at the SB & Ventura Farmer’s Market, wherein is explained how over 400 miles of track in 5 Southern California Counties were rehabilitated and their commuter rail service was put into operation in only 2 years! So the question is – why can’t two counties with 45 miles of track provide a commuter rail service in 2 years? 3 years? 4 years? 5 years? The commuter rail portion (beginning on page 87) of The LOSSAN North Strategic Plan estimates 3-5 years.
The current Amtrak Surfliner service is fine for inter-city travel at off-peak hours, but unfortunately it does not give the 15K to 20K daily north bound commuters a rail option at peak hours. Its’ LA to SLO route was studied by LOSSAN as one of three (3) possible commuter rail solutions, and their results found the Amtrak Surfliner to be the poorest performer of the three scenarios studied. LOSSAN found either the Metrolink/Independent or DMU (diesel-multiple unit) solutions to be much more effective. It’s logical that a commuter train running between Oxnard and Goleta makes more sense than trying to change the schedule of the Amtrak Surfliner between LA and SLO. Anyone who’s ridden the Surfliner has probably experienced delays, and statistics show the longer the trip, the more chance for delays.
Those postcards sent by Ventura & SB area folks to SBCAG surely had an influence on the County’s Measure D ‘06 inclusion of $126M for commuter rail in its expenditure plan. It’s unfortunate the measure did not pass, but the passage of Measure A ‘08, which has $25M in its expenditure plan for commuter rail, breathes new life into the rail option.
Some say that $25M is not enough to get a commuter rail service running. I beg to differ, and can offer concrete examples of new start-up services around the country that have done it on the cheap. There are three (3) examples of new commuter rail services on the CoastalRailNow website, and Nashville’s Music City Star service most closely resembles our scenario, with a start-up cost of $42M. Their route traverses 32 miles, while ours is 45 miles from Oxnard to Goleta.
Nashville’s infrastructure was in need of extensive work, while in our case additional sidings are needed before Union Pacific Railroad would allow more passenger trains to be scheduled. The locomotives and passenger cars are a big expense, and to buy the trainsets new would run $4M for a locomotive and $2.1M for each passenger car. Multiply 3 locomotives, and 15 passenger cars and you’re looking at $43.5M for the Metrolink/Independent solution. The DMU solution would cost $48M.
But there’s another way – by purchasing used rail equipment, which is readily available. Nashville paid $1.00 per passenger car, and $250K for their locomotives. One can usually expect to pay $100K to $150K for a passenger car, but you can easily see the savings. Matching State and Federal funds added to Measure A’s $25M for commuter rail would boost the total to about $45M. That’s without a contribution from Ventura County. The estimate for an Oxnard to Goleta commuter rail service utilizing used equipment and with the needed corridor improvements is approx. $49M.
Commuter rail is a regional issue, and in our case, one which crosses county lines.
Highway 101 crosses county lines, and is paid for by everyone along the way. However, you have to have a car to use it. For those who don’t drive, or choose not to, there’s Vista, the inter-regional bus service, but at peak hours they’re stuck in traffic along with the cars. In the case of rail, the tracks parallel Highway 101, and offer a congestion-free route for commuters, but there is the difficulty of dealing with Union Pacific Railroad (UNP) – a public company in the business of hauling freight. Their representatives continually remind those who ask for increased passenger service on their tracks that they must look out for shareholders interests first. That means freight hauling, where they make their profit. It’s clear that accommodating passenger trains is not of primary importance to UP, but all sides should look at investment in the rail corridor as a win-win. It’s been pointed out that the rail corridor between Oxnard and Goleta has been in need of upgrades for years, and UP should welcome the trade off.
Passenger service used to be part of UP and other rail companies business, but was divested into a quasi-government entity (National Passenger Rail Corporation) in 1971. This passenger rail entity is better known as Amtrak, and has a low cost pricing agreement with freight rail operators throughout the country. There’s been a contentious relationship between Amtrak and the freight rail companies, and as part of the original agreement, Amtrak is not allowed to operate commuter service (although there are exceptions).
If there’s to be passenger rail service, doesn’t it make sense for it to be when people need it – at peak hours? Metrolink is a commuter service, and not part of Amtrak. They purchased most of the right of way they operate on, and the Moorpark to Montalvo segment is owned by UP. They operate under a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) agreement between 5 Southern CA counties known as SCRRA (Southern California Regional Rail Authority). JPA’s are a typical way that regional rail systems are governed, and likely how Santa Barbara and Ventura County would operate a future commuter service.
The passage of Measure A in Santa Barbara County should encourage Ventura County to include commuter rail in any future transportation tax initiative. Together, the two counties could forge a plan for a peak hour rail service scaled to the future demands of the region. This would not only help relieve congestion on Highway 101, but be a move in the right direction for energy conservation and reduction of green house gases. With political will, commuter rail from Oxnard to Goleta could be up and running in 3-4 years, while widening of the 101 to the county line is decades away. While the cost of the rail option in the near term is determinable, the cost estimate of $428M for Highway 101 widening was calculated in ‘05, and could very likely top $1B when completed.
Dennis Story, Chair – CoastalRailNow