Can rail help that Santa Barbara bottleneck?

The long-discussed rail alternative for the crowded Ventura-to-Santa Barbara route is moving along, according to the Ventura County Star:

Straight, narrow and almost always empty, the rail line between Ventura and Santa Barbara counties has always been the route not taken by commuters.

Tantalizingly close as it parallels the often-congested Highway 101, the rail line now might go from the route less-traveled to an active commuter line within two years.

Advocates for commuter rail and dozens of government officials from both counties are working on a plan to tweak Amtrak train schedules and coax Union Pacific Railroad officials into changing the times they send massive freight trains down the line and building "sidings" to allow the freight cars to pull over and make way for commuter trains.

"I'm an optimistic person, so I believe we will work out all the problems and make it happen," said Mary Travis, manager for the intercity rail and Metrolink program for the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

Comments

[n in studio city]

wow - this proposal is music to my ears. how about a stop gap measure before building the high speed railway to san fran and extend this proposal all the way to oakland thus cutting down on the travel time of the coast starlight (amtrak's line which is now one of the most delayed due to union pacific and freight trains). if taking the train could be cut to 7-8 hours up to oakland it might compete with buses and planes.

[Bob Davis]

All it takes is money--and approval from the Coastal Commission, and a lack of NIMBY objections from affluent coastal residents. I wouln't be upset if a siding were built near my house and freight trains with two or three big diesel locomotives pulled in, sat there to let the commuter or Amtrak trains go by, and then pulled out with a 6000 to 10,000 horsepower roar, but I used to work for a railroad, and am a member of a railway museum, so horns and engines are music to my ears. One would suspect that someone hosting a garden party with a string quartet for entertainment would not be amused. I saw one report that commented on a siding proposed several years ago for a location between Ventura and Santa Barbara which was "vetoed" by the Coastal Commission. Has the commission changed?

[carolyn sherley]

RAPID TRANSIT...............RAPID TRANSIT.........RAPID TRANSIT, BUT IT HAS TO BE ALL OVER THE PLACE, ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE......NOT A SELECT FEW NEIGHBORHOODS. GO TO ANY OTHER BIG CITY IN THE WORLD AND YOU'LL LEARN HOW IT IS DONE. LOS ANGELES IS STILL IN THE BUGGY STAGE. PROBABLY NEVER WILL GET OUT OF IT. I HAVE LIVED HERE FOR OVER 40 YEARS AND ALL IT HAS BEEN IS TALK, TALK,TALK. SSDD