BayRail Alliance: Vision for South Bay Rail

Peninsula Rail 2000 is now BayRail Alliance

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A New Rail Vision for the South Bay

Caltrain Metro East is BayRail Alliance's proposal for major rail upgrades to fill the gap in regional rail systems between Fremont and Silicon Valley. The new high speed electric rail line line would use technology commonly used in Europe and Asia. Its tracks would carry both local commuters, and future longer distance passengers. It would be the first segment of the proposed high speed rail system to Sacramento and Southern California.

A better rail plan for the South Bay [web page] [652k PDF file], describes this compelling proposal to capture the imagination of South Bay residents, government and business leaders.

Caltrain Metro East would serve more of San Jose's planned growth than BART... - read more (also in Word format).

... and would require fewer transfers for riders going to the San Jose airport - read more (also in Word format).

SF Cityscape's San Jose/South Bay Rail Expansion Alternatives page considers how this proposal and the officially favored BART extension stack up, with more detailed maps of the two proposed rail routes through San Jose.

Caltrain Metro East articles that have appeared in print media:

in the Palo Alto Weekly, Wednesday, December 7, 2005
in the San Jose Business Journal, Friday, November 18, 2005 (reprinted in the East Bay Business Journal the following week)
in the Mountain View Voice, Friday, December 2, 2005 (also appeared in the Gilroy Dispatch)

This proposal incorporates and builds upon earlier proposals:

Altamont high speed rail (HSR): Take the Altamont tour.
Silicon Valley Express (2000), proposal to upgrade existing rail service to match that of European suburban rail lines.
Comparison maps from the 2000 No-on-A campaign

Had the proposed Union City - San Jose commuter rail to be operated by VTA (promised to Santa Clara County voters in 1996 Measure B) moved forward as planned, commuters from the East Bay to Silicon Valley would be riding trains now! Existing Amtrak and ACE services currently operating make the trip from Fremont to the heart of Silicon Valley (Santa Clara/Great America) with faster travel times than those of the proposed BART extension. The latter is not likely to be built for at least 20 years, and would require an additional 1/4-cent sales tax in Santa Clara County, plus keeping VTA bus and light rail service levels below those of 2000 for the indefinite future.

Additional information:

Architecture 21's Bay Area Regional Rail Plan, a long term vision
Reasons for routing HSR via Altamont
Reginal Rail Communications Center, website of the official process to study South Bay rail proposals and high speed rail route alternatives between the Bay Area and the Central Valley
A different version of the above map, showing additional details in San Jose-Fremont routes: 124k PDF file