The popularity of it is an interesting question actually. The San Joaquin Daylight took 4.5-5 hours Bakersfield to Los Angeles while the bus bridge is only 2:15 (a tilting train could probably reduce that figure though). That limits the number of frequencies you can run (probably just a single in each direction) and a lot of people will prefer to take the bus instead for the time savings. My bet is that most ridership gains (above and beyond that for an additional frequency) would be from service to the Antelope Valley and induced ridership from people like me who refuse to take a bus connection or bustitution (nothing against such things in principle, I'm just horribly prone to motion sickness). A 5am departure from San Diego, departing LA at 8am for 12:30 arrival at Bakersfield and 6:00pm at Sacramento (or 6:30pm Oakland) holds some definite promise however, just as an extra frequency on those sections.
Well, the route would have several distinct markets added:
LVRE brought bi-level cars last year, according to them 12 cars, apparently all 1950s vintage Santa Fe bi-levels. The purchase of the cars was discussed earlier in this thread back in 2012. LVRE press release from last year on buying additional cars.
Sorry to hijack a bit, but the latter part of this sentence intrigues me.
Is there a major reduction in capacity north of SLO -- fewer sidings, etc.? Is there a major increase in freight traffic north of SLO -- agricultural traffic from Salinas?What you are asking about would be the Coast Daylight train which would run from downtown SF to San Jose to LA. It has been in the plans/wish-list for many years and is part of the latest California State Rail plan. It has been stalled because of funding, not given priority, reaching an agreement with UP on track and capacity upgrade projects, and probably the lack of enough rolling stock. With the jolt of additional state funds for conventional passenger rail projects that passed the state legislature earlier this year and the award of the contract to build bi-level corridor cars, the Coast Daylight service could actually start in 3 or 4 years. But the last I read the Coast Daylight is still in the drawn out negotiation stage with UP.Sorry to hijack a bit, but the latter part of this sentence intrigues me.
Amtrak runs two Surfliner round-trips as far north as San Luis Obispo, in addition to the Coast Starlight, so the capacity is clearly there south of SLO. What militates against extending one of those two "slots" up to San Jose, other than UP intransigence?
I'm asking honestly as a Midwesterner who's never been to California and thus has to rely on the Amtrak website and Google Maps. :hi:
I hope they do! If the State paid for the rights all the way up to San Jose, they should be able to use those rights. Get the legal ball rolling now so that, when the new cars start arriving en-mass in two years, all Amtrak California needs to do is add their fourth official train to the timetables and get service under way.
This has been my understanding for a while as well: CA bought four slots back in the 70s. I forget the exact status of those slots (I think this was about the time CA put together funding for the San Joaquin, and things are a little muddled there), but I specifically remember hearing about four slots.
yes, UP may indeed be waiting for CA to pay up for capital improvements on the route so they can save on spending their own money. The latest California State Rail Plan was released in May 2013 with the full set of reports available on this webpage for the different corridors. There is a rather extensive 170 page report for the Coast Daylight route under the title Final 2013 Coast Corridor Service Development Plan. I've only skimmed it, but the Coast Daylight may be further off than I thought because the study talks about a 2020 service ridership projection. There is an engineering study underway for new cost estimates, but the report has old estimates adjusted to 2012 dollars of $115 million for track upgrades and $100 million for signal upgrades between Gilroy and San Luis Obispo. If this is ever done, the Coast Starlight would obviously benefit as well.
my thoughts exactly
I wouldn't bet against it... that seems to be a very busy route, and maybe going "in style" from LA would have enough appeal to support a car full of high rollers (who would rather roll on steel than asphalt).
It depends on what they're charging. The weekend of SDCC, these guys could probably sell out two extra cars on most Surfliners. Same thing on other peak weekends, when BC can sell out and/or the whole train goes reserved. Still, it's interesting to see...considering how the Surfliners are largely commuter lines, this is almost in line with the old parlor car services on commuter roads back in the day.
