The Pacific Coastal Corridor (PCC)
North to South, Traveling the Coast
The Pacific coastal Corridor is meant to connect the cities on the coast together, while facilitating transfers to East-West routes, including the Redline Transcontinental.
The Corridor consists of the following primary cities, with optional/"on the bubble" choices to be integrated as appropriate:
Vancouver, CAN
- Bellingham, WA
Seattle, WA
Portland, OR
- Eugene, OR
- Medford, OR
- Redding, CA
Oakland / San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
Los Angeles, CA
San Diego, CA
- Tijuana, MX
East-West connections are anticipated from San Francisco, CA (Northern International Railway), and Los Angeles, CA (Redline Transcontinental and Southern Transcontinental).
The plan would be to run parallel to some of the existing California High Speed Rail Project, linking California's largest metropolitan areas in as straight a line as possible. This State-Specific endeavor would then be linked to a separate Pacifuc Northwest Rail project, which links its largest metropolitan areas. The area in between those two major sections is a matter to be determined, but based on the sheer distance, and the belief that connectivity demand would be high, my expectation is, at the very least, a bypass configuration for Redding, Medford, and Eugene, considering their size. The bypass configuration would be opposed to a) routing in such a way thaf ignores their existence, or b) adding multiple stops with relatively short distances, reducing the efficacy of an ultrahigh speed train between San Diego to Vancouver (or Los Angeles to Seattle).
Vancouver, Canada, British Columbia
A Modern Metropolis, Fit For a Connection
Vancouver, as of 2017 retains a population of over 675,000 people. Its location at the border of the US and Canada make it an ideal terminus for the Pacific Coastal Corridor (PCC).
Vancouver would then be the interlink between the PCC and the separately proposed Canadian Transcontinental Railway (CTR), running East-West.
Bellingham, Washington
A Big Town or a Small City at a Juncture
Bellingham has a population of approximately 94,000 as of 2022. This makes Bellingham the smallest of all cities mentioned on any route within the rail framework. So why is it included?
Bellingham may not require an immediate connection. Its populace does not indicate a substantial need for heavy rail infrastructure, but there are two primary reasons why Bellingham is on the list:
1. While Vancouver is just north of the border, Bellingham is firmly within the territory of the United States.
2. Bellingham is located on the curve through which the North-South alignment must accommodate the Pacific Ocean, aligning North-Westerly as the route drives North to Vancouver.
3. Bellingham is the only sizeable city between Seattle and Vancouver, and there is significant habitable land surrounding Bellingham, permitting its eventual (and potentially expeditious) growth.
4. The Downtown area of Vancouver is the only significantly attractive place to install a US-CAN connection, and Bellingham represents the Southern tip of the metropolitan area of Vancouver. For this reason, for customs and commuting purposes, a stop before the border and a stop after the border would provide some ease of use to the system, and would provide the potential for a local/regional route between the two, and not simply an international line.
5. By integrating a rail line now and assuming developmental rights for the area, it is a preparatory move for the region with little cost to do so.
Seattle, Washington
A Unique City in a Unique Environment
SS
Portland, Oregon
A Port City That's All About the People
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, OR is a populous city with approximately 178,000 people as of 2022. Generally speaking, Oregon has been demonstrating steady growth for some years, and Eugene is no exception. While Eugene represents a smaller city per capita than Amarillo (the smallest city on the Redline), it is also similar in terms of its geographic proximity to the metropolitan area of Portland, set approximately 100 miles south.
Medford. Oregon
A Reputable Small City Positioned for Growth
Redding, California
A City on Line
Much like its distant neighbors to the North, Redding, CA, as of 2022, has a population just around 93,000. Redding is situated on the high end in the north stretches of California, approximately 200 miles away from San Francisco and Oakland to the South. As a comparison, DC to Baltimore is around 44 miles, and Los Angeles to Phoenix is about 370 miles. Redding, CA to Portland, OR is approximately 420 miles.
On the Atlantic Coast, the distance between city stops is relatively low. In California and the Pacific Northwest, the distance between the major cities (San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, in this case) is far larger. This improves the overall efficiency of the system but does not facilitate travel between the notable cities in between (Redding, Medgord, and Eugene). For this reason, while the smaller cities may not demand ultra high speed rail connections based on their population, based on their geography and present standing, they are the likely candidates for integration.
It is the aim of the UHSRS to facilitate movement between urban centers at high rates of speed, while simultaneously facilitating a standardized means of connecting the smaller towns and cities through services such as Amtrak. In this way, an Ultra High Speed Rail alignment may be placed in such a way to capture future growth and build out the requisite infrastructure for electrified traditional rail, providing current traditional rail stations while "future-proofing" to allow for added stops on the main line or dedicated UHSR (Maglev) lines for regional service.
Oakland, California
A Troubled City with Room to Spare
Oakland is in an interesting place, and a difficult predicament. Located just East of San Francisco across the Bay, Oakland is a spawling city that is known more for its crime rate and its recent loss of its NFL and MLB franchises than it is for anything else. It has an active port, and a defunct train station.
Oakland, CA, as of 2022 has a population of approximately 430,000, making it substantially larger than the other proposed cities immediately to the North by about 4x. This positioning leaves route planning with a potential split-route configuration, with a dedicated North-South route between San Francisco and San Diego on the West side of the Bay, and a continuous route between San Diego and Vancouver (the full PCC) on the east side of the Bay, connecting with and passing through Oakland.
The placement of Oakland relative to San Francisco begs for a dedicated line between the two cities (12.5 miles), which would allow connectivity between the lines and provide for a dedicated commuter and tourist route. This short route represents one of several pivotal routes identified within the system, where there is immediate or anticipated demand between two closely-linked cities.
The multi-route selection also provides for the opportunity to improve regional transit options, expanding capacity in the 'Bay Loop' by virtue of running both lines North-to-South, intersecting at San Jose and being linked by a connection between San Francisco and Oakland.
San Francisco, California
A Historic City on a Hill, and Gatekeeper of the Bay
San Francisco remains one of the most notable cities in the United States, with iconic scenery, breath-taking roadways on magnificent inclines, and water all around, known most famously for its Golden Gate.
San Francisco is not necessarily a "big" city. It is extraordinarily dense with a population of 808,000 as of 2022, and spawning pockets of growth in the surrounding areas, connected by local and regional transit options. San Francisco is also infamously known for its homeless crisis, gentrification, lack of affordable housing, and "hostile architecture" designed to dissuade the homeless from hanging around.
One primary benefit of UHSR in its fast commute potential, is that, for cities like San Francisco that resist turning into Manhattan, commuting has the ability to diffuse housing pressures that cause rental rates to climb to obscene or absurd levels. Simultaneously, the connectivity allows for more people to commute to the city, improving the economics for concentrated financial and otherwise commercial office districts that demand high occupancy.
As noted in the Oakland section, San Francisco resides a mere 12.5 miles from its neighbor across the Bay. While an alignment on the West side of the Bay facilitates movement to San Francisco from San Jose, it restricts fast travel northwards. For this reason, a split-route configuration is considered, with the primary PCC traveling through Oakland.
One of the reasons for the proposal for both an East and West alignment is the aim to fulfill the promise of the CAHSR in creating a direct route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. While the proposed route goes through San Jose, the completion of this route, with dedicated throughput independent of the full PCC, allows for the promise to be fulfilled, with travel times between the cities (~380 miles, LA to SF) estimated at approximately two hours.
San Jose, California
A Big City Ready For the Big Time
San Jose has been quickly developing as a tech hub oasis away from San Francisco, offering all the perks of California without the density and cost of living on the North side of the Bay. Located on the Southern end and representing a population of over 970,000 as of 2022 with indications of growth, San Jose is technically more populous than San Francisco with room to grow.
San Jose offers several unique opportunities and challenges. As proposed, a station at San Jose would split two routes heading North, one set of tracks on the West side, and another set on the East. Being close to the Southern tip of the Bay, the expected route would be diverging from the Diridon Station site underground with Maglev tracks in tunnels, which may or may not coincide or run parallel to other planned local and regional routes.
San Jose, while supporting an NHL, MLS, and MLB Stadium, lacks an NFL franchise for lack of a stadium, and its current MLB stadium is in need of an upgrade. A hybridized MLB-NFL stadium concept with NFL franchise is separarely proposed.
The Diridon Station is currently targeted by Google/Alphabet for development of a work-life community complex. The proposal for the Station is not anticipated to greatly alter the surface area unless the Station's improved utility would expand their plans.
Los Angeles, California
Massive Projects for a Massive City
Los Angeles, CA is a sprawling beast of a city, linking and intertwining with several other highly populated city centers. LA itself is not especially centralized. While recent efforts to expand and connect local transit services have improved the potential of the city's transportation network, the city is still notorious for its traffic and its problems serving so many people with sporadically-used public transit services.
It is with this backdrop in mind that a separate city project has been conceived, highlighting some of the issues and providing some potential solutions (located in City Projects). In any event, Los Angeles serves as the Western terminus of the Redline Transcontinental line, and an important fixture on the PCC.
San Diego, California
If We Build It, They Will Come
San Diego, CA is the Southernmost US stop on the PCC, aiming to connect the heavily populated Greater Los Angeles Area to the relatively stable and somewhat isolated San Diego city. With a population of approximately 1.38M as of 2022, San Diego, CA is comparible to San Antonio, TX.
There have been tentative plans to expand rail service to San Diego, but the CAHSR project did not aim to include it in the State endeavor. There is substantial distance between San Diego and Los Angeles, and the route is not exceptionally simple to plan. In terms of a cost-benefit analysis, this additional route, extending past the Redline is marginal at best, despite the market size of the target city. That being said, there is the Mexican city of Tijuana that provides the theoretical impetus to include San Diego, and the territory beyond on the Gulf of Mexico.
The considerations for expanding a heavy infrastructure corridor to San Diego can not be taken lightly, given the cost of the route. That being said, just as Los Angeles is expanding its water infrastructure, thsre may be a rationale for extending a water link to San Diego, particularly if the Los Angeles Delta project moves forward. In theory, the open territory on the coast near San Diego could prompt development of oceanic desalination facilities, additional nuclear power, and thus such an infrastructure corridor with water, energy, and transport would be a much-desired and welcomed feature.
Tijuana, Mexico
A Border City with Border Problems...and Tourists
As of 2020, Tijuana, MX has an estimated 2.16M people. Tourism is a huge factor in its status and growth, with medical and entertainment tourism being the primary types. However, Tijuana has periodically been known as a dangerous place to visit, and recent deaths of San Diego residents visiting there have cast a pall on the typically vibrant tourism business.
As a general sense of numbers, Tijuana had an estimated 1.15M patrons visit in 2018, compared to 8.5M in Cancún, and 6.5M in Acapulco. Principally, the airports and cruises at Cancún, coupled with its robust tourist industry including hotels, resorts, and rental accommodations makes the other territories on the peninsula far more attractive as tourist destinations.
If a dedicated high speed rail line were to be connected to Tijuana, it would be expected that accessibility might improve its tourism traffic, particularly those traveling from California and those arriving to North America by way of Los Angeles International Airport.
The connectivity of Tijuana might be so unattractive from a safety perspective that proposals to do so might be stymied, but a separate proposal for Baja California is considered as both a short term and long term solution. In any event, the Pacific Coastal Corridor, should it be extended to its full length, would connect Vancouver, Canada, to Tijuana, Mexico, while connecting a large number of highly populous American cities and the broader transportation and logistics network by way of the other transcontinental lines at Los Angeles and San Francisco.