Caltrain votes for HSR agreement

The Caltrain Joint Powers Board (JPB) voted today in favor an agreement with the California High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA). The Agreement, which still needs to be approved by HSRA, establishes a cooperative partnership for rail projects on the Caltrain right of way, including Caltrain electrification, signal improvements, and other critical projects and programs and the planning, design and construction of High Speed Rail.

Caltrain benefits from HSRA funding that will pay for all of these improvements, while HSRA benefits from the use of Caltrain's valuable right of way from San Jose to San Francisco.

Several members of the public spoke out against this proposal, expressing their concerns that high speed rail will reduce property values along the rail corridor. The JPB voted unanimously in favor of an agreement to partner with the HSRA.

Thank you to David Snyder who attended this JPB meeting and passed word of the vote along. David also notes with some humor that somebody in the public commentary recommended that the HSR people should be aware of the high bike use by train riders along the Peninsula.