San Jose Diridon Station

Located near the confluence point of Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek. South of Hyw 82 (The Alameda/Santa Clara Street) and west of Hyw. 87 (The Guadalupe Parkway), in close proximity to downtown San Jose, this station is poised to become an even more important urban transportation hub that provides connections to and in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area Region.

California High-Speed Rail Authority

(Excerpt) "... The California High-Speed Rail Authority is responsible for building high-speed train service covering 800 miles at speeds over 220 MPH. Voters approved Proposition 1A on the November 2008 ballot putting a down payment on what will be America’s first high-speed train system ..."

Source: Press Release

High Speed Train (HST)

(Excerpt) "... The San Jose to San Francisco HST corridor selected by the Authority [California High-Speed Rail Authority] and FRA [U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration] follows the Caltrain right-of-way from San Jose to San Francisco. The HST would operate in this area at speeds no greater than 125 mph and would share tracks with Caltrain express commuter trains. Further engineering studies to be undertaken ... will examine and refine alignments in the Caltrain right-of-way. The entire alignment would be grade separated.

The preferred station in the City of San Francisco is the Transbay Transit Center; in the City of Millbrae, the existing Millbrae BART/Caltrain Station [near to SFO airport]; and in the City of San Jose, the Intermodal [San Jose] Diridon Station. These locations were selected by the Authority and FRA ... considering the project purpose and need, and the program objectives. Potential station locations in the City of Redwood City at the existing Caltrain Station near downtown or in the City of Palo Alto at the existing Caltrain Station near downtown will also be evaluated ... Alternative station sites at or near the selected station locations may be identified and evaluated in this Project EIR/EIS ..."

Source: PDF DRAFT Scoping Report for the San Jose to San Francisco High Speed Train Project-Level EIR/EIS, June 2009, pages 1-2. More: DRAFT Scoping Report Appendices.
Note: An alternative identified in the DRAFT Scoping Report, Topic 4: Alternative Technologies, page S-5:

(Excerpt) "Consider halting the HST in San Jose and having passengers transfer to the existing Caltrain express trains, which are proposed to be electrified, or rely on other existing transit systems, including buses and BART."

California Governor's Executive Order S-13-09
A presumably temporary measure to reduce current state operating expenses:

(Excerpt) ... Starting August 2009, the [California High-Speed Rail Authority] office will be closed the first, second and third Friday of every month through June 2010 ...

Source: www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov

Dan Walters: Is now the right time to build a railroad?
By: Dan Walters, July 2009.

(Excerpt) "... While $9 billion of the voter-approved bond issue is to be used for the system, if and when it is ever built, the remaining $995 million can be spent on local mass transit systems on the assumption that they will improve access to high-speed rail.

There is a suspicion among those who chart the erratic course taken by the bullet train project that when push comes to shove, its only tangible fruit will be those local projects."

Source: www.sacbee.com

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