The Chronicle‘s Rad Sallee reports that Union Pacific Railroad has serious doubts about METRO’s grand commuter-rail/intermodal-terminal plans:
A Union Pacific Railroad official says the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s plans to run commuter trains between the suburbs and a large intermodal terminal planned for the Near Northside probably won’t work.
“We feel it is not feasible to operate commuter rail at this location,” Joe Adams told the regional Transportation Policy Council last week. “We have made this clear in discussions with Metro.”
METRO’s John Sedlak disagrees:
Sedlak told the council that Metro’s commuter rail plans are being studied for feasibility, and until the results are in, he said, “We’ll have to agree to disagree.”
“This is a situation where there are a number of studies under way — freight studies, relocation studies, freight examinations, line volumes, looks at various movements across the region,” Sedlak said. “All that is essential. At the same time, you must examine the plans, and if you never put a plan together, you’ll never accomplish any long-term objectives. This is an approach to carry forward a long-term vision, and we believe it is feasible.”
So, we really need to wait for the studies, according to Sedlak, who also says the plan is feasible even though the studies aren’t yet in. Gee, I wonder what the outcome of METRO’s studies will be?
The conclusion of Sallee’s story sounds a bit ominous:
However, Adams said an engineering solution may be possible. “If you have a very significant amount of money to devote, you can probably solve any problem,” he said.
If firing the money catapult is the approach, METRO will likely prove adept at problem-solving.
