A modified proposal for high-speed rail on the Peninsula calls for a blended system integrating high-speed rail and Caltrain. The plan includes improvements such as track upgrades and the electrification of Caltrain.

– Jeffrey Lu

Local representatives are pushing for a modified high-speed rail plan that would have a significantly smaller impact on the Palo Alto community than previous proposals.

In a joint statement Monday, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, State Senator Joe Simitian and Assemblyman Rich Gordon presented a reworked plan for high-speed rail on the Peninsula, outlining several standards for the future system.

“We have taken it upon ourselves today to set forth some basic parameters for what ‘high-speed rail done right’ looks like in our region,” the release said.

The new plan calls for “a blended system that integrates high-speed rail with a 21st Century Caltrain.” The system would avoid aerial tracks and stay within existing Caltrain land.

“Within the existing right-of-way, at or below grade, a single blended system could allow high-speed rail arriving in San Jose to continue north in a seamless fashion as part of a 21st Century Caltrain while maintaining the currently projected speeds and travel time for high-speed rail,” the release said.

Caltrain would need to make several infrastructure upgrades, including electrification of the corridor and new train control systems, in order to support the integrated system.

In an supplemental statement released Wednesday, the trio clarified that their proposal would not terminate the high-speed line in San Jose and require San Francisco-bound passengers to transfer to Caltrain. Instead, high-speed trains would continue north towards San Francisco on rails shared with Caltrain.

“The idea is to upgrade the Caltrain corridor so that high-speed trains can run on the same tracks,” the release said. “High-speed trains would run…all the way between San Francisco and Los Angeles, as required by Prop 1A. On the Peninsula, they would operate on the same tracks as Caltrain, overtaking slower Caltrain trains at certain passing points, just as Caltrain’s baby bullet trains overtake and pass local trains today.”

The proposed plan recommends greatly limited or even nonexistent property seizure through eminent domain. This would have a significantly smaller impact than previous plans on areas such as the Southgate neighborhood and Palo Alto High School, which are situated directly adjacent to the existing Caltrain tracks.

“Our statements specifically says [that high-speed rail is] to be built within the existing right of way,” Gordon said. “That’s land already owned by Caltrain, not new land.”

To accommodate increased rail traffic, additional tracks will be built in areas with wider right-of-ways, thus allowing high-speed trains to pass Caltrain.

“There would be some additional areas where there is sufficient right-of-way where you could put additional third tracking,” Gordon said. “But for the most part, it’s going to be two tracks.”

Ultimately, the three local representatives hope that the California High-Speed Rail Authority will take the newly introduced proposal into consideration.

“An essential first step is a rethinking of the Authority’s plans for the Peninsula and South Bay. A commitment to a project which eschews an aerial viaduct, stays within the existing right-of-way, sets aside any notion of a phased project expansion at a later date, and incorporates the necessary upgrades for Caltrain – which would produce a truly blended system along the Caltrain corridor – is the essential next step.”

The joint press release can be found here.