A lot about the subject of High Speed Rail is written on private websites, blogs and internet columns such as this one. It’s good to take a look at all prospective and this article looks at some views from the “a pro-High Speed Rail prospective” but curiously there are major questions coming from those sites as well.
First, for those of you who haven’t read the California High-Speed Rail Blog, let me tell you about it. It's run by Robert Cruickshank. The site is affectionately known as Robert’s blog, not because he’s anybody’s best friend but because no one can spell or pronounce his last name. Many have suspected this blog site, www.cahsrblog.com whose logo looks amazingly like the California High Speed Rail logo, might be funded by the High Speed Rail organization but proof positive has not surfaced. Regardless of where Robert’s motivation comes from, he’s no doubt a good friend of the Authority since he gets scoop on the project early.
Last week Robert’s blog had some particularly interesting subjects:
The $16 million grant was for CBOSS, Caltrain's unique, in house version of Positive Train Control (PTC). PTC is a system that monitors the train traffic in order to avoid accidents and increase safety. The HSR Authority sent out their announcement and took credit for something Caltrain and Anna Eshoo had in the works for some time.
How was it funded? See the very special grant which only allowed the Joint Powers Board to apply, http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=53785 It was created April 15, 2010, Caltrain’s first application date was April 16th but was rejected and re-submitted later in the summer. The award ceiling could have been up to $1,250,000. The time to apply for the grant is now closed. According to their own documents, this has absolutely nothing to do with High Speed Rail and everything to do with Caltrain.
As with any announcement from the Authority, Robert cheered it on--although he stood alone on this one. “Some on the Peninsula see high-speed rail as a threat to Caltrain’s future. But today we saw a reminder of how high speed rail and Caltrain help each other out.” And so it was that the High Speed Rail Authority-under the guise of helping Caltrain out, who sent the announcement claiming victory. http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/062311_design_work_sf_peninsula.aspx
Their announcement said that HSRA finalized a federal grant agreement for design work on the San Francisco Peninsula.(Design work?) And commented further:
“This initial federal investment will enable Caltrain to take an important step forward in our efforts to provide Bay Area communities with a modernized, sustainable commuter rail system that is fully compatible with future high speed rail service,” said Caltrain Executive Director Mike Scanlon.
Robert's pro-rail blog went ballistic since CBOSS it is not the preferred system for HSR and it’s expensive.
The comments on the blog were very negative such as this one: “I’m sorry Robert but I have to strongly disagree with this. As we have stated multiple times why develop another custom system after custom system after custom system? Anyone who wants to save money would use an off the shelf system. Why spend $300 million on a new signal system vs. spending it on something more useful. It makes no sense to R&D your own signal system when there is a good standard out there.”
Another: “ Robert, your posts are becoming a little too, how should I say this. HSR cheerleader (y) if that’s a word. We all know this is bad news for HSR on the peninsula.”
Virtually all the other bloggers--including ardent supporters of high-speed rail-agreed that funding CBOSS is a bad idea.
Clem Tillier, independent blogger, engineer and life-long high-speed rail enthusiast, has written an excellent in depth article on the issues with the grant. It's fairly technical but you can get the gist of it easily. http://caltrain-hsr.blogspot.com/ He has many questions to ask such as, “ How, why and when were existing train control technologies such as ERTMS, the standard that shows the strongest signs of being favored for HSR in California, eliminated from consideration on the peninsula corridor?"
It is clear from the High Speed Rail Authority technical memos that they have no intentions of using CBOSS if they come down the peninsula, which means yet another investment will have to be made for the High Speed Rail System if and when the time comes. Perhaps this is step one of the Simitian/Eshoo/Gordon plan to invest in a 21st century Caltrain and High Speed Rail system blended on the same corridor?
Clem wonders about the rest of the money for CBOSS, “If California high-speed trains will use another train control system than CBOSS, why is federal HSR money being spent on the development of CBOSS? Can or should Caltrain expect HSR monies to cover the remaining 90% of the CBOSS cost that is not yet funded?”The total cost is expected to be $251 million dollars.
And according to Clem's blog, the Caltrain CBOSS proposal clearly states that Interoperability with HSR is not part of the CBOSS Proposal evaluation.
Make no mistake, clearly this grant has little if anything to do with the start of the San Francisco to San Jose High Speed Rail line, it’s about Caltrain. It was important to state coordination with HSR in order to get the money but the only documented connection between CBOSS and HSR is the press release and the promise that it could be used for High Speed Rail construction in the future.
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