Quick Take
The next two public input sessions on the future of passenger rail in Santa Cruz County are coming in late June. This time, the topics of discussion are the types of vehicles that are being studied and the issues surrounding the alignment of the rail line.
In late June, members of the public will get their chance to provide input on the type of train that could operate a planned future passenger rail service as well as the route it could take across Santa Cruz County.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s (RTC) long-term project involves passenger rail service and stations on about 22 miles of the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line from Santa Cruz to Pajaro, and 12 miles of Coastal Rail Trail from Rio Del Mar Boulevard through La Selva Beach and Watsonville.
In February, the public got its first chance to take a look at the project overview and provide input on the general plan for the project as RTC set out on its near-decadelong path to a hopeful 2032 groundbreaking. During those sessions, community members expressed a range of skepticism and enthusiasm for the ambitious project.
Even so, RTC continues to move forward with the project timeline, and is now on to evaluating the different types of vehicles that may be used for passenger rail, as well as potential issues with the railroad’s alignment.
Mark McLaren, vice president of Nebraska-based engineering consultant firm HDR, Inc., which has been hired to create a conceptual report for the project, shared some information about the three types of trains the organization is most interested in at the RTC’s meeting last Thursday. He said each comes with its own pros and cons.
A traditional locomotive-hauled train can fit many passengers and is compatible with freight and commuter rail systems, but consumes a lot of energy and has a fairly limited range.
Multiple-unit trains can be built a specific length to accommodate the level of ridership that an agency anticipates, and are often lighter, with cabs on both ends of the train to promote faster turnaround times than locomotive-hauled trains. That makes them an increasingly popular option for commuter rail vehicles. However, there are not many active suppliers of this kind of train in the U.S. market.
Light rail vehicles, meanwhile, are lighter and smaller than both of the other types of train and typically more available than multiple unit trains, but can’t hold as many passengers and cost a lot to maintain.
“The real difference is what they can each offer in terms of interoperability with freight and the connection to a larger system in the future,” said McLaren.
McLaren added that evaluating the alignment of the 32-mile branch line is the other important component that the agency needs public input on. He said that the goal is to fit the railroad within the existing corridor, while maintaining the ability to keep both rail and trail within that corridor. The upcoming public input sessions will allow residents to discuss their questions and concerns about the rail line’s alignment.
The RTC has already identified possible constraints that could prove problematic for train operations. Those include narrow sections of the rail corridor, the rail line running along roadways in some parts of Santa Cruz and Watsonville, and the potential for the rail’s current configuration to limit the speed of the train and travel times. Through July 18, a virtual open house will be available for residents to view the vehicle types, project schedule and current alignment analysis, and to provide feedback. McLaren said all feedback will become a part of the project.
“That’s one of the key benefits of the virtual process. People will have the ability to look at the [alignment] maps, and provide their comments,” he said. “They will all become part of the project record.
The in-person public input sessions are scheduled for June 24 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Civic Plaza Community Room in Watsonville, and on June 25 at the same time at the Live Oak Grange in Santa Cruz.
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Check out our Carmageddon road delay list here. This week, pay particular attention to:
The Pure Water Soquel water purification project continues to move forward, and its current work will affect parts of Laurel Street in Santa Cruz. The installation of an architectural cover for the piping along the Laurel Street bridge will continue this week between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., shutting down one lane of eastbound Laurel Street.
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