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Monterey County map will include light rail, commuter rail lines in future
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Commuters board BART train at West Oakland station in Oakland, Calif., on Oct. 28, '09.
When I think Monterey County, I think John Steinbeck and Cannery Row; Carmel with its highlands, lowlands and renowned 17 Mile Drive; Castroville with its oodles of artichokes; the famed Laguna Seca Raceway; Parkfield, the earthquake monitoring capital; and the coast with its seafood and sand dunes. What I’m not thinking about necessarily are trains - passenger trains in particular, except for maybe the twice daily Amtrak Coast Starlight train which plies Union Pacific rails between the City of Angels (Los Angeles) and Seattle (one northbound, one southbound). In the not-too-distant future the rail aspect will most assuredly change.
Come 2015, light rail train service will be instituted between north Marina and Monterey along the coast and prior to this in 2012, commuter rail between San Francisco and Salinas will be launched.
“Monterey County residents are one step closer to riding light rail between Monterey and Marina as well as train service between Salinas and San Francisco after today's Transportation Agency of Monterey County meeting,” was the opening statement to the Oct. 28, ’09 Californian newsstory “TAMC chooses light rail as main option for Monterey-Castroville.”
Once this happens, Monterey County will join the legions of other California counties providing commuter and/or light rail services - to the chagrin of some and the approval of others.
“The first phase of the project will run between Monterey and north Marina with key stations in Monterey, Seaside, Sand City, Marina/CSUMB [California State University, Monterey Bay], and connecting bus service to Pacific Grove and Carmel to the south and Salinas to the east. Later phases will extend service to the planned commuter rail station in Castroville and increase the frequency of trains. The total capital cost for phase 1 of the project is $128.5 million,” information in the Californian article reveals.
To know there is the extreme likelihood that a passenger rail link between California high-speed rail (this will most likely be facilitated in Gilroy) and the Monterey peninsula and Monterey, will give travelers all across North America rail access to and from this central coast region.
The track on which the light rail trains will run is an existing 16-mile, albeit currently unused rail line connecting Castroville and Monterey. Light rail was selected over bus rapid transit [BRT], due in part to the ability to increase capacity by adding additional rail cars as ridership levels change.
“Each alternative has its advantages; however light rail was selected based on its ability to provide superior transportation in the long-term while best meeting the vision and future plans for each of the peninsula cities,” the Californian noted.
