The urban rail OUTLOOK - Industry Overview

Railway Age, Feb, 1999 by Julian Wolinsky, William D. Middleton

SAN JOSE

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is in the midst of a major light rail construction program that within five years will add 21.2 route miles to the existing 21-mile Guadalupe line. Due for completion in April 2000 is the $325 million Tasman West project to Mountain View. Later this year work should be under way in the Tasman East, Capitol, and Vasona corridors. There are sufficient LRVs on hand to operate Tasman West but the agency is preparing to order up to 50 low-floor vehicles for the other lines that will be fully compatible and interoperable with the existing 50-car fleet.

SAN FRANCISCO

Work on BART's 8.7-mile, four-station extension from Colma to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae is well under way. The $1.2 billion project is due to open in 2002. BART is nearly four years into its 10-year, $1.1 billion comprehensive renovation program and more than half of all contracts have been awarded. The system's 30year-old fleet of 439 Rohr cars is being completely rebuilt by Adtranz. All 34 original stations are being refurbished.

Last June the city's Public Transportation Commission gave final approval for the Municipal Railway's Third Street Light Rail Project. It will be a further extension of the route that opened in January 1998 from the subway to the Caltrain station at 4th and King Streets.

SACRAMENTO

Sacramento Regional Transit District is planning two additional LRT extensions that will nearly double the size of the system. The 6.3-mile South Line is in final design and construction is expected to start by year's end. The ETA has entered into a $111 million full funding agreement for the project. Meanwhile, the environmental review on the $141 million Folsom line is due to be completed this spring. This is expected to be constructed as a design-build project and should also be completed in 2003. About 40 new LRVs will be needed to serve the new branches; SRTD anticipates placing an order later this year.

PORTLAND

But the success of the Westside ERT project seemed to have little effect on Portland-area voters last November. They rejected by a 54% vote a proposal to issue $475 million in general obligation bonds to finance the $1.6 billion South-North light rail line. Community meetings are now under way to determine what should be done to improve transportation in the busy corridor, and another LRT proposal has not been ruled out. Work on a 5.5-mile light rail branch to Portland International Airport should begin before mid-year. This is a public-private project spearheaded by the Bechtel Infrastructure Corp., which will design and build the line. It will cost an estimated $125 million, $28.5 million of which will come from a consortium consisting of Bechtel and developer Trammel Crow in exchange for development rights on 120 acres of airport-owned property.

Also moving ahead is a Central City Streetcar project in downtown Portland that will establish an L-shaped route connecting a large hospital complex in the northwest quadrant with a major redevelopment area and Portland State University in the southwest.