Metrolink to Victorville

Wingnut wrote:Why not run a couple of Amtrak round trips to Las Vegas as they hoped to do shortly after the Desert Wind was discontinued?

Well, that plan has never been formally nixed. It is becoming increasingly difficult to open up new Amtrak routes (particularly on UP trackage) due to the lack of funding and the disdain for Amtrak that UP has (yes, more than BNSF, CSX, and NS)

MCHammer wrote:Hopefully in the future DesertXpress will come over the Pass on its own alignment with a connection to the SD HSR line. If Metrolink were to extend, they would need to have a full double track on the SB line from Baldwin Park-San Bernardino at least. I am not sure how you could squeeze in another track to the I-10 section until CSULA. Even then, the CSULA section to LAUS is quite a small distance.

Desertxpress now has all the clearances and is ready to start building. Unfortunately the Victorville terminal will be in the northeast of town and the Amtrak/Metrolink station is in the center of town. I'm sure the potential attraction of a relatively high volume transit station nearby will cause greater consideration of Metrolink service. If that occurs there will be some kind of link between the two.

the reason the DesertXpress stops where it does is because there's no capacity to go through that pass. how or why metrolink would suddenly be able to obtain that capacity in unclear to me, so i wouldn't hold my breath.

lensovet wrote:the reason the DesertXpress stops where it does is because there's no capacity to go through that pass. how or why metrolink would suddenly be able to obtain that capacity in unclear to me, so i wouldn't hold my breath.

Wasn't a third track recently opened, increasing capacity by 50%? Are you telling me the freight trains have this additional capacity clogged up already? Whether it's Metrolink or Amtrak, I don't envision more than two or three daily round trips through there. I have a very hard time believing this is impossible. I will agree that a full fledged commuter service from Victorville with three peak hour round trips and additional off peak service isn't possible.

leemell wrote:

MCHammer wrote:Hopefully in the future DesertXpress will come over the Pass on its own alignment with a connection to the SD HSR line. If Metrolink were to extend, they would need to have a full double track on the SB line from Baldwin Park-San Bernardino at least. I am not sure how you could squeeze in another track to the I-10 section until CSULA. Even then, the CSULA section to LAUS is quite a small distance.

Desertxpress now has all the clearances and is ready to start building. Unfortunately the Victorville terminal will be in the northeast of town and the Amtrak/Metrolink station is in the center of town. I'm sure the potential attraction of a relatively high volume transit station nearby will cause greater consideration of Metrolink service. If that occurs there will be some kind of link between the two.

Related discussion: DesertXpress

Wingnut wrote:

lensovet wrote:the reason the DesertXpress stops where it does is because there's no capacity to go through that pass. how or why metrolink would suddenly be able to obtain that capacity in unclear to me, so i wouldn't hold my breath.

Wasn't a third track recently opened, increasing capacity by 50%? Are you telling me the freight trains have this additional capacity clogged up already? Whether it's Metrolink or Amtrak, I don't envision more than two or three daily round trips through there. I have a very hard time believing this is impossible. I will agree that a full fledged commuter service from Victorville with three peak hour round trips and additional off peak service isn't possible.

I believe DesertXpress isn't crossing the pass because it's not compatible with the existing infrastructure; they're planning on running non-FRA compatible (but UIC-standard safe) EMUs on new track and alignment. They can't run on the FRA-governed, non-electrified BNSF/UP tracks over Cajon Pass, there's no remaining width for another ROW, and they don't want to spend the $N billion to widen the pass (or, more likely, dig a base tunnel under it). The lack of room for new tracks for DesertXpress doesn't necessarily mean that there's no room on the existing tracks for Metrolink, or Amtrak, but I'm sure that that's enough of a chokepoint for both BNSF and UP that they are both happy to continue furthering that confusion.

Back in the news this week.

DesertXpress and MTA representatives signed documents that open the door to the Las Vegas-Los Angeles route. The agreement includes a strategy to plan and build a 50-mile high-speed line between Victorville and Palmdale, which would initially connect to Metrolink tracks and eventually be the connection point to California’s planned high-speed rail system.

http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2012/jun/0 ... torville-/

Andrew Mack, chief operating officer of DesertXpress, said it’s difficult to pinpoint cost and timetable details because officials have just begun talking about them. However, early projections are that the Victorville-Palmdale link would cost around $1.5 billion and that the environmental work would take at least until the end of 2013 to complete.

That 50-mile high speed line from Palmdale to Victorville could go down the right-of-way of a new 8-lane expressway.

Representatives of a private company with plans for a 150-mile-per-hour rail link from Southern California to Las Vegas have signed an agreement with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority to plan to tie in to the California High Speed rail system.

The high-speed tracks would run down the center of a proposed Route 138 freeway across the Antelope Valley, which would replace a road known as "blood alley" for its frequent deadly crashes.

http://cerritos.patch.com/articles/high ... -the-works

The $6 billion expressway could be complete by 2020.
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18305407 explained in the video segment is from 5:00 to 9:30