Amtrak California

[Allen Dee]

The following article is on Amtrak California's website.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/rail/pubs/execsum...umdraftstra.pdf

According to this article, the majority of the capital rail expenditures within the state will be in the north. There is mention of the Los Angeles-San Francisco and Los Angeles-Bakersfield proposed trains, but there is no mention of Los Angeles-Las Vegas service.

All three of these routes are essential for a seamless rail transportation network for Southern Californians.

 

[jccollins]

I agree that the L.A. to Las Vegas train service gap is just as important as the Bakersfield to L.A. gap, but I believe the reason it isn't mentioned is because it is a gap Amtrak itself was/is supposed to close without involvement or help from the State of California. According to CalTrans, California hasn't spent ANY money on track work or capital improvements on the L.A. to Las Vegas route. On the contrary, money has and will be spent studying the Bakersfield to L.A. route for connecting California Corridor service over the Tehachapis.

Both California and Nevada need to realize that the L.A. to Las Vegas service will never begin unless they step up and provide capital funds and agree to cover any operating losses. Whether the service on this vital corridor will begin is really in Nevada's hands now since California is struggling to deal with its current budget problems. On a positive note, it looks like funding levels for California Corridors will at least remain the same for this fiscal year, one of the few things that will survive the steep California budget cuts.