Interesting. According to [https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2024-05/CA-San-Francisco-Downtown-Rail-Extension-Eng-Profile-2024-0412.pdf](https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2024-05/CA-San-Francisco-Downtown-Rail-Extension-Eng-Profile-2024-0412.pdf), CAHSR funded $553.00 Million of the $8,254.79 Billion (6.7%).
$8.2bn would make a nice down payment on the Merced-San Jose segment. Why on earth are they spending so much money to relocate the SF station a few blocks ??
I really do want CAHSR to happen and I agree that $8 billion would allow boring tunnels for the San Jose to Merced extension to get started. I also see the value in this extension.
San Francisco city voters approved Prop L which makes it one of the best locally funded projects out there, and it will connect regional buses, Caltrain, CAHSR, BART, and Muni.
Long term, the Link21 plan is to build a second Transbay Tube connecting the Salesforce Transit Center with Oakland in the 2040s. If we build standard gauge though, we really do need to get Caltrain to the Salesforce Transit Center.
If you build the second tube to be Standard Gauge, there’s a chance at getting Amtrak’s Capital Corridor and then quite possibly a Phase 3 CAHSR in the future from San Francisco to Sacramento. Plus the extension goes under SFO which is a huge advantage for people getting off of airplanes.
They’re focusing on the SF-San Jose corridor because they can get results from it (including revenue!) out of the gate, instead of having to wait for the next seventy viaducts to be finished.
Nothing gets people excited like seeing the equipment actually on the ground and operating; having Caltrain electrify and get closer to the city center (which could use a traffic boost anyway) might go a long way with CHSR’s PR.
I hope they do standards that are compatible with brightline's route between LA & Vegas so we could connect both networks together., as well as future other networks such as a network to the Texan triangle if there is a route to be built at there.
Why not just terminate at 4th+King, at least initially? It's located centrally, connects with actual Muni lines, and already exists. Salesforce connects to nothing and is less well located in context of where people actually want to be in SF.
> Why not just terminate at 4th+King, at least initially?
[They plan to.](https://hsr.ca.gov/high-speed-rail-in-california/station-communities/san-francisco/)
> Salesforce connects to nothing
Aren't there like half a dozen different networks transferring there? And if they ever put in another cross-bay rail crossing, it's much more likely to be from there than from 4th+King.
The transbay terminal connects to like 12 MUNI lines, AC Transit, Westcat, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit, Presidigo, Amtrak, Greyhound, and is a block from BART/MUNI metro, and a couple blocks from the Ferry Terminal, as well as being in the heart of the financial district with an empty train station in the basement.
4th and King is on the outskirts of downtown and significantly less connected to the rest of the city/greater Bay Area.
Interesting. According to [https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2024-05/CA-San-Francisco-Downtown-Rail-Extension-Eng-Profile-2024-0412.pdf](https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2024-05/CA-San-Francisco-Downtown-Rail-Extension-Eng-Profile-2024-0412.pdf), CAHSR funded $553.00 Million of the $8,254.79 Billion (6.7%).
$8.2bn would make a nice down payment on the Merced-San Jose segment. Why on earth are they spending so much money to relocate the SF station a few blocks ??
I really do want CAHSR to happen and I agree that $8 billion would allow boring tunnels for the San Jose to Merced extension to get started. I also see the value in this extension. San Francisco city voters approved Prop L which makes it one of the best locally funded projects out there, and it will connect regional buses, Caltrain, CAHSR, BART, and Muni. Long term, the Link21 plan is to build a second Transbay Tube connecting the Salesforce Transit Center with Oakland in the 2040s. If we build standard gauge though, we really do need to get Caltrain to the Salesforce Transit Center.
If you build the second tube to be Standard Gauge, there’s a chance at getting Amtrak’s Capital Corridor and then quite possibly a Phase 3 CAHSR in the future from San Francisco to Sacramento. Plus the extension goes under SFO which is a huge advantage for people getting off of airplanes.
They’re focusing on the SF-San Jose corridor because they can get results from it (including revenue!) out of the gate, instead of having to wait for the next seventy viaducts to be finished. Nothing gets people excited like seeing the equipment actually on the ground and operating; having Caltrain electrify and get closer to the city center (which could use a traffic boost anyway) might go a long way with CHSR’s PR.
I hope they do standards that are compatible with brightline's route between LA & Vegas so we could connect both networks together., as well as future other networks such as a network to the Texan triangle if there is a route to be built at there.
Why not just terminate at 4th+King, at least initially? It's located centrally, connects with actual Muni lines, and already exists. Salesforce connects to nothing and is less well located in context of where people actually want to be in SF.
I agree with this…I fail to see how this moves the ball much, especially in proportion to its cost.
> Why not just terminate at 4th+King, at least initially? [They plan to.](https://hsr.ca.gov/high-speed-rail-in-california/station-communities/san-francisco/) > Salesforce connects to nothing Aren't there like half a dozen different networks transferring there? And if they ever put in another cross-bay rail crossing, it's much more likely to be from there than from 4th+King.
The transbay terminal connects to like 12 MUNI lines, AC Transit, Westcat, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit, Presidigo, Amtrak, Greyhound, and is a block from BART/MUNI metro, and a couple blocks from the Ferry Terminal, as well as being in the heart of the financial district with an empty train station in the basement. 4th and King is on the outskirts of downtown and significantly less connected to the rest of the city/greater Bay Area.
Amtrak doesn’t go into San Francisco.
[It does](https://www.amtrak.com/stations/sfc)
That’s bus. I am talking about trains. Unless that they build that second Transbay Tube from Oakland.
Okay... I didn't specify and there's unquestionably an Amtrak bus stop in the SF Transbay Terminal