New Alignments
The rail route alternatives considered use existing freight-passenger routes, rather than constructing a new route on new ROW. Development of entirely new rail routes is more expensive and more disruptive to the environment and to communities than adding capacity or improvements to existing rail routes. Route alternatives with entirely new alignments were deemed unreasonable, owing to the cost of new ROW and the challenge of timely property acquisition. Additionally, grading entirely new ROW, rather than expanding as needed along existing ROW, would cause more impact on the natural environment and human environment than on-alignment route alternatives. For these reasons, rail alternatives that involve a new route were dropped from further consideration.
Existing Rail Routes
There are existing rail lines that connect the Coachella Valley with the Los Angeles Basin, and these could be used to accommodate a new intercity passenger rail service in the corridor. The existing rail lines in the Corridor are shown in Figure 40. A single existing rail line – the UP Yuma Subdivision – runs through the San Gorgonio Pass to connect the Coachella Valley with the Los Angeles Basin. In the City of Colton, the Yuma Subdivision intersects other rail lines that provide four alternative routes linking Colton to Los Angeles:
1. The San Bernardino Subdivision (owned by BNSF Railway), which passes through Riverside and Fullerton;
2. The Los Angeles Subdivision (owned by Union Pacific (UP)), which passes through Riverside and Pomona;
3. The Alhambra Subdivision (owned by UP), which runs due west from Colton and passes through Pomona; and
4. The San Gabriel Subdivision (owned by the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) and the LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro)), which lies north of Colton and carries the Metrolink San Bernardino Line commuter rail service between San Bernardino and Los Angeles.
Table 26 shows these four established passenger rail routes identified by a designator number, subdivision name, current operator, and intermediate cities used to define the location of the route. All route alternatives in the Western Section will also use the River Subdivision trackage owned by SCRRA for the final 0.9 mile to 5.3 miles to access LAUS.
Table 26. Established Passenger Rail Routes in Western Section of the Corridor
Route Number Subdivision Name Current Operator and Route
1 BNSF San Bernardino Subdivision BNSF Railway via Riverside and Fullerton, California 2 UP Los Angeles Subdivision BNSF Railway from Colton to Riverside, then Union
Pacific west of Riverside via Pomona, California 3 UP Alhambra Subdivision Union Pacific via Ontario and Pomona, California 4 SCRRA San Gabriel Subdivision BNSF Railway from Colton to San Bernardino, then
SCRRA San Gabriel Sub (Metrolink’s San
Bernardino Line) via Rialto and Montclair, California Source: Amtrak, 2014; SCRRA, 2014
Each of the four routes listed in Table 26 can be combined with the Yuma Subdivision to provide route alternatives from Indio on the east to LAUS on the west. Indio is a potential eastern terminus for the service because it is near the eastern end of the Coachella Valley and could capture travelers from throughout the Valley, it has an existing transportation center next to the rail line, and it is accessible to the highly transit-dependent communities further south and east. LAUS is the logical western terminus for service because it is the primary hub of rail and transit connections for the rest of Southern California.
Previous studies of potential rail service in this corridor – the 2010 Coachella Valley Rail Study Update (RCTC, 2010) and the Coachella Valley Intercity Rail Corridor Planning Study (Caltrans, 2013) both recommended the use of the UP Yuma Subdivision in the Eastern Section between Indio and Colton and the passenger-freight route owned by BNSF Railway in the Western Section between Colton and Los Angeles (identified in Table 26 as Route Number 1).
Figure 40. Corridor Rail Lines
Option to Use the Redlands Rail Route
For Route 4, an option to connect the San Gabriel Subdivision to the Yuma Subdivision through Colton might be to connect them using a new passenger rail route being developed to connect the existing San Bernardino Metrolink station and the City of Redlands along the Redlands Branch line (see Figure 40). This alignment would require construction of new track approximately 1.5 miles in length in the Loma Linda/Redlands area. This would require the acquisition of new right of way and construction of new track, and would involve associated environmental impacts.
In addition to the challenges of developing a new 1.5 mile rail alignment to connect the two lines, the Coachella Valley-San Gorgonio Pass (CV-SGP) service may be incompatible with the planned operations along the Redlands Branch line. The Redlands Passenger Rail Project (RPRP) proposes to use Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) vehicles, which may not be compliant with FRA passenger equipment requirements. For intercity trains to operate in the same corridor as non-compliant DMU vehicles, either a second track would need to be constructed along the Redlands Branch line or all three services (the RPRP operation, freight service, and intercity service) would need to be time-separated through this area, which could jeopardize the reliability and utility of all three types of service.
The combination of these factors makes the RPRP route connection a very implausible option for carrying the CV-SGP service, therefore Route 4 will be considered only using the BNSF line to connect the San Gabriel Subdivision to the Yuma Subdivision.
“Short Line” Rail Options
Another possible way to provide passenger rail service between Indio and Los Angeles would be to operate a new intercity rail service between Indio and the Inland Empire, where passengers could transfer to existing Metrolink commuter rail lines to continue on to Los Angeles or other parts of the Los Angeles Basin (see Figure 41). One such “short rail” route option would follow the UP Yuma Subdivision from Indio to Colton, then turn south on the BNSF San Bernardino Subdivision to Riverside, where passengers could transfer to Metrolink’s IE-OC Line, Riverside Line, or 91 Line. The other “short rail” route option would also follow the UP Yuma Subdivision from Indio to Colton, then turn north on the BNSF San Bernardino Subdivision to San Bernardino, where passengers could transfer to Metrolink’s San Bernardino Line or IE-OC Line.
Comparison of Rail Options with Purpose and Need Objectives
The Indio-Los Angeles intercity service options (assumed to be a one-seat ride) and the Indio- Inland Empire “short line” intercity rail service options (assumed to be a connection to existing Metrolink service in Riverside or San Bernardino) were compared to the project’s Purpose and Need objectives. The results of this comparison, shown inTable 27, indicate that the Indio-Los
Figure 41. Potential “Short Rail” Service Options between Indio and the Inland Empire
Table 27. Purpose and Need Objectives Consistency for Intercity Rail
# Purpose & Need Objective Consistency for Indio-Los Angeles Intercity Rail Service
Consistency for Indio-Inland Empire “Short Rail” Intercity Rail Service
1
Provides travelers between the Coachella Valley and the Los Angeles Basin with a public transportation service that offers more convenient and competitive trip times, better station access, and more frequency, than currently-available public transportation services.
Objective Achieved. An
intercity passenger rail service between Indio and Los Angeles would have a substantial trip time reduction compared to the existing bus-rail trip using Amtrak Thruway and Pacific Surfliner.
Objective Not Achieved. Because of the need
to transfer in Riverside or San Bernardino, the possible reduction in rail/transit travel time is decidedly less than a service that provides passengers with a one-seat ride between Indio and Los Angeles.
2
Provides travelers between the Coachella Valley and the Los Angeles Basin with an alternative to driving that offers reliable travel schedules.
Objective Achieved. An
intercity passenger rail service between Indio and Los Angeles would have reliable schedules because it would operate in an rail right-of-way and would not involve transfer to another, less reliable, service. An intercity train service between Indio and Los Angeles would be able to operate through San Gorgonio Pass in the event of Interstate 10 being shut down.
Objective Not Achieved. Because of the
variability in Metrolink’s travel times due to scheduling issues, reliability would be decidedly less for a service that requires passengers to rely on Metrolink for a significant portion of their travel through the corridor. Scheduled Metrolink travel times between Riverside and Los Angeles vary depending on time of day and service capacity on the shared tracks. An intercity passenger train between Indio and the Inland Empire would be able to operate through San Gorgonio Pass in the event of I-10 being shut down.
3
Provides travelers between the Coachella Valley and the Los Angeles Basin with a transportation service that is affordable.
Objective Achieved. Intercity
passenger rail service would be an affordable travel option.
Objective Achieved. Intercity passenger rail
service would be an affordable travel option.
4
Serves a range of trip purposes traveling between the Coachella Valley and the Los Angeles Basin,
particularly including business, social, medical, leisure, and recreational trips.
Objective Achieved. Intercity
passenger trains provide travelers with comfortable and spacious seating, baggage service, wifi connection, café service, and other amenities suited to leisure/recreation and business travelers that are not available on Metrolink.
Objective Not Achieved. While a rail service
between Indio and the Inland Empire could be customized to address a specific demographic, existing Metrolink schedules and traveler amenities are geared to commuters traveling to and from work, and do not accommodate as well the needs and desires of the leisure and recreational travelers that constitute a very significant component segment of this corridor’s travelers.
5
Improves regional travel opportunities between the Coachella Valley and the Los Angeles Basin for transit dependent people.
Objective Achieved. A new
intercity passenger rail service between Indio and Los Angeles would provide direct service to Los Angeles and connections throughout the Los Angeles Basin.
Objective Achieved. A new intercity
passenger rail service between Indio and the Inland Empire (Riverside or San Bernardino) would provide travelers with connections to much of the Los Angeles Basin by transfer to Metrolink commuter rail service.
6
Is planned to serve the expected population growth in the Coachella Valley and the Los Angeles Basin.
Objective Achieved. Intercity
passenger rail service could be expanded to accommodate ridership growth.
Objective Achieved. Intercity passenger rail
service could be expanded to accommodate ridership growth.
Does not preclude, by choice