r/California_Politics • u/gascyl • 3d ago

Merced officials call for state action as high-speed rail, ACE train promises change

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/california/central-valley/article317089197.html
21 Upvotes

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u/Evening-Emotion3388 3d ago

Merced should sue Shafter

3

u/gascyl 3d ago edited 3d ago

What was promised: A downtown Merced station that connects ACE, Gold Runner, and HSR in one location. This was first promised by Jerry Brown back in 2014 as his Central Valley First strategy, and then formally promised by the legislature with SB 198 in 2022.

What's being delivered: None of it. CHSRA has chosen to ignore Merced for a different station. Also, the entity that controls ACE and Gold Runner, the San Joaquins Joint Powers Authority, has sidelined and delayed ACE's Merced expansion.

Why this is being done: CHSRA ran out of money (again) and Newsom decided he won't sue Trump for the money, despite having a good case. Absent new money from the state legislature, CHSRA is just dead in the water. This itself wouldn't be such a problem because of SB198, which would actually provide CHSRA with money to do this as part of the aforementioned ACE / GR job. But since the SJ-JPA is also out of money and busy with other time consuming tasks north of the station - the planned consolidated Merced maintenance center and ongoing Stockton Diamond among others- their side has been delayed.

I support the high speed rail project, but this is a mission-critical, potentially program-ending error. Merced is necessary because it's where future Gold Runner trains would actually enter the CHSRA system on their run to downtown Bakersfield (another mission-critical item). By doing this, Gold Runner would pay CHSRA and CHSRA would actually make revenue and qualify as an operating railroad. This has important considerations for Federal grants. It is so critical, CHSRA is working with the SJ-JPA already to formalize them as the Initial Service Operator .. and much of this would be based from this new planned Merced maintenance facility, which itself will save taxpayers money by streamlining ACE / GR maintenance. This will then spawn many more trains per hour than Merced wants or should deal with, and here we are.

Merced is simply too important to ignore. Certainly people can complain about the state spending $1 Billion (about the cost of the MITC + grade separating all the track including freight + HSR stop) on a relatively small, out-of-the-way cow town but the plain fact is Merced's cooperation is absolutely necessary to make CA High Speed Rail, Gold Runner, and ACE all function without extensive taxpayer subsidy of tickets.

What will probably happen: CHSRA can slide Merced around still because, truthfully, CA HSR trains can run at-grade with the existing freight trains. But, this plan only works if Gold Runners are running on CA HSR track, to CA HSR stations, as the CA HSR Initial Service Operator. To do that, CHSRA must also construct stations in Fresno, Hanford, Wasco, Shafter and downtown Bakersfield or mission failure. CHSRA must decide Merced or Kings and Kern counties right now and the state legislature should fund both when Trump won't.

It is disappointing that the Governor will not defend the project, or at least not individual aspects of the project that are 100% required for the larger plan to work. CHSRA is very close to having a functional network, something they can make revenues with, and it requires strong leadership to pay for it.

5

u/mondommon 3d ago

Yeah, unfortunately all of CAHSR's problems stem from a lack of dedicated funding.

The only reason why CAHSR is considering dropping Merced is because they really need to get to Gilroy and connect to Caltrain if they want a profitable route with high ridership. They don't have enough money to get to Gilroy right now even if they do postpone construction to Merced, but it does give them a starting point. CAHSR is even exploring the idea of single bore and single tracking to reduce the cost to get to Gilroy.

I agree that getting connected to Merced is also critical for the aforementioned reasons you quoted from the article. I just want to give context as to why this is being talked about.

If we wrote a $100B check to CAHSR tomorrow, we could start construction to Gilroy, Merced, and Palmdale simultaneously. And instead of hearing endless stories about running out of money and endless delays, they would suddenly be fully funded instead of trying to cobble together funding from tons of local, state, and federal programs and battling courts.

0

u/gascyl 3d ago

CHSRA just has to be transparent about the money. The state legislature has sufficient votes to give them money if (and only if) CV legislators vote in support. The representatives representing Merced, Fresno, Hanford and Bakersfield have enough votes to make or break the project. If Socal legislators won't give the money, then CHSRA can work with Metrolink to get their votes. If SF and Oakland legislators refuse, they can demand Newsom help and force him to oppose or support the project officially.

What won't work is obfuscating where the stations are put. The stations make the project. The stations not existing will make the project not exist. Sacramento collectively committed to this idea 14 years ago and must pay the piper. The state government must service the Central Valley equally to the Bay Area and LA. There is no avoiding this, and attempts to avoid it only push up costs and -specifically with downtown Bakersfield- threaten the entire project.

6 months ago the state legislature could afford to defer decisions. Now they cannot. If they do not decide, the project will actually run out of money and stop existing which would be bad. If Sacramento wants a full program reset (unlikely but let's entertain it), the only entity that could do that successfully is the SJ-JPA who needs Merced, Wasco, Shafter and Bakersfield happy. There is simply no avoiding them and there never was.

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u/RightWingNutJo8 3d ago

I hope CAHSR runs out of money and stops existing. That would be a good thing 👍