By the NUMBERS
Train Speed: up to 220 mph
SAN FRANCISCO to LOS ANGELES Run: 2 hours, 40 minutes
SAN FRANCISCO to SAN JOSE Run: 30 minutes
Operating Hours: 5:30 am to midnight, 365 days a year
Gilroy Station Area Tracks: 4 sets of tracks( 2 for Gilroy stops, 2 for thru-trains) Frequency: 6 trains per hour( 3 northbound, 3 southbound) during peak hours
The Question of Noise According to the Authority, highspeed trains traveling at 200 mph, a distance of 100 feet away, will generate noise levels of 90-100 dBA( decibel level average over 24 hours). That’ s roughly equivalent to standing 3 feet from a power mower.
It’ s fine to compare high-speed rail noise to other sources of noise, but in reality, the arrival of a high-speed rail system will add to environmental noise already generated by city and highway traffic, traditional rail, airplanes and other sources of noise.
To Break Even If the high-speed rail system averaged … 203.8 years of passengers paying $ 86 for a ticket to break even with the current $ 64 billion cost estimate.
Source: The Mercury News
LEARNING from our PREDECESSORS
California may be charting a new frontier with high-speed rail in the American West, but Japan introduced the first bullet train back in the 1960s. Since then, more than 20 other countries have followed suit, from the UK and Europe to Asia and beyond. And currently, Florida is building a high-speed rail with private investment. Rail technologies have evolved over the years. Tripousis said the Authority has the advantage of years of lessons learned and best practices to draw upon from around the globe.
What we do know is that when loosely compared with the California HSR project, many of these established rail systems serve very large metropolitan areas, they have relied on government subsidies, and their fares aren’ t cheap.
What the Authority is not saying, is who will build the rail cars, and who will operate them. However, Tripousis said there’ s strong interest.
MANAGING RISK
As the lead sponsor the High-Speed Rail project, the Authority is accountable to the Federal Railroad Administration and tasked with upholding California Environmental Quality Act( CEQA) standards. The Authority monitors and reports on its ability to manage risk across eleven areas.
• Environmental Approvals: obtaining clearances and approvals, meeting conditions of the approvals.
• Financing and Funding: attracting lenders, timing of funding.
• Legal: meeting legal requirements that impact schedule, cost, financing.
• Operations and Maintenance Costs: projecting costs, ensuring they are covered by fares, not government subsidies.
• Railroad Agreements: negotiating agreements for each project section.
• Ridership and Farebox Revenues: making realistic projections, contracting with train operators that can deliver on those projections.
• Right of Way: anticipating and effectively managing Right of Way acquisitions.
• Staffing / Organization Structure: staffing up to meet changing project demands.
• Stakeholder Support: building and maintaining public and private support over time.
• Technical: managing risks associated with tunneling, groundwater impacts, mountains, earthquake faults, alignment potentials for derailments, landslides.
• Third Party Agreements: working with utilities partners to locate utilities effectively.
The RESEARCH for FUNDING
California’ s 2016 Gross Domestic Product was more than $ 2.6 trillion— making it the world’ s sixth largest economy. On the flip-side is a $ 400 billion debt burden( 2016) and billions more in deferred infrastructure maintenance and upgrade costs.
The Authority’ s current estimate to complete HSR from San José to Bakersfield is $ 20.7 billion, but again, that may be optimistic. It has secured roughly $ 20 billion including federal stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Senate Bill 1029 appropriations, and Cap and Trade funds. However, the ARRA funds have been spent, the future of Cap and Trade beyond 2020 is uncertain, and HSR’ s greatest champion, Governor Jerry Brown, terms out in 2018.
CHSRA has stated that Phase I sections will be profitable in their first year of
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN JULY / AUGUST 2017 gmhtoday. com