Monterey County Rail Extension


The Monterey County Rail Extension is a planned commuter rail extension that would bring Caltrain passenger service south of its existing Gilroy, California terminus to Salinas in Monterey County, using the existing Coast Line owned by Union Pacific. Implementation of the rail extension will occur over three phases, starting from Salinas and moving north. When construction is complete, there will be four trains operated over the extended line per weekday: two northbound trains that depart from Salinas and travel to San Francisco in the morning, and two southbound trains that return to Salinas in the afternoon.
After years of delays, the Transportation Agency for Monterey County is predicting service to commence in 2028.

History

Southern Pacific

The Southern Pacific Railroad operated intercity passenger train services in California, including the Del Monte between San Francisco and Monterey, until the inception of Amtrak in 1971. Amtrak declined to continue operation of the Del Monte and the service was discontinued.
Potential restoration of passenger service to had been identified as early as 1980. A study published in 1981 was described in the Caltrans 1984–89 Rail Passenger Development Plan, which stated restoration of passenger service to Monterey could be feasible if certain conditions could be met, including track improvements along the Monterey Branch Line and construction of stations south of San Jose. The annual operating cost would be $2.5 million, serving an estimated 190,000 to 234,000 passengers per year, assuming a schedule similar to the former Del Monte. Because Amtrak did not provide direct service to San Francisco, it continued to rebuff requests to restart the service in the 1980s. Operation of a San Francisco–Monterey route under SP continued to be studied; with an annual ridership forecast of 210,000, gross revenue would be $1.1 million, yielding a higher first-year farebox recovery ratio than any previous public rail transit project in California. However, because of the large capital investment required, the state did not continue to purse restarting the service.

Caltrain

SP retained operation of the Peninsula Commute intercity commuter rail service after 1971, serving cities along the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley between San Francisco and San Jose until it was first sponsored and then taken over by Caltrans between 1980 and 1985. In 1985, the state took over the service, which was renamed to Caltrain and SP was retained as the contract operator. The tri-county Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board was formed to take over the regional rail service from the state and purchased the right-of-way between San Francisco and Tamien from SP in 1991. Subsequently, PCJPB extended Caltrain extended commuter service south of San Jose to Gilroy in July 1992. Because the PCJPB owned right-of-way ends at Control Point Lick, just south of Tamien station, extended service south of there is provided under an agreement with the UPRR to use that railroad's Coast Line for a limited number of daily passenger trains. These are operated in the traditional commute direction: northbound in the morning from Gilroy to San Francisco, returning south in the afternoon. Caltrain built a layover yard in Gilroy between 6th and 10th streets, next to Gilroy Transit Center, where trains are stored overnight; tracks terminate just north of 10th and do not connect with the rest of the Coast Line.
Since the inauguration of Gilroy service, the concept of a passenger rail extension to Monterey County has been considered, starting with the Caltrans-sponsored Passenger Rail Feasibility Study No. 05D423, which examined the possibility of passenger rail service between San Francisco, Monterey, Salinas, and Hollister, concluding that Salinas was a feasible origin for the commuter rail service. In 1994, the Monterey County Regional Transportation Plan selected a Caltrain extension as the locally preferred alternative. The cities of Salinas and Watsonville also considered rail station improvements and construction starting in 1996, including a Draft Pajaro Valley Station Project Study Report and Pajaro Railyards Area Feasibility Study, culminating in a study sponsored by the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, Extension of Caltrain Commuter Service to Monterey County Business Plan.
Under the Business Plan, a one-way fare from Salinas was estimated to cost approximately $3.50 and increased ridership would bring in an extra $1.4 million in annual revenue. The total cost of the project was estimated to be $25.7 M, most of which would be spent for improvement/construction of the three stations and the new layover facility in Salinas.
Subsequently, Caltrain was approached by TAMC to extend service further south along the Coast Line from Gilroy into Monterey County. A draft of the Caltrain Extension to Monterey County Alternatives Analysis was first published in 2006 and updated in 2007; four alternatives were analyzed, with most assuming inter-county commuter rail service provided by Caltrain, extended from Gilroy to either Castroville or Salinas, connecting to Monterey via Marina on a new intra-county service provided by either bus rapid transit, light rail transit, or local buses:
Also in 2006, with the Caltrain Express project completed, PCJPB began planning the electrification of the line, publishing results in the Project 2025 report ; the electrification project would compete with MCRX for Caltrain's time and attention.
A draft environmental impact report published in 2006 stated the lack of public transportation options between Monterey County and the San Francisco Bay Area has resulted in increased private commuter vehicle traffic. The 2006/07 Alternatives Analysis estimated that approximately 6,000 people commuted daily from Monterey County to the Bay Area. According to the DEIR, traffic on U.S. Route 101 was projected to rise by up to 56% in 2020 compared to 1998 levels, resulting in unstable traffic flow from the Salinas city limits to the Santa Clara County line as a result.
The proposed extension would create new stations and stops in Pajaro and Castroville before terminating at the existing Salinas Amtrak station that currently is served by Coast Starlight passenger service. Under these plans, the Salinas station would be rebuilt as an intermodal station to connect commuter rail with Monterey-Salinas Transit buses. A layover yard would be added to accommodate Caltrain crews and maintenance, and the total cost of the Salinas improvements was estimated at. The 2006/07 Alternatives Analysis stated the Caltrain Extension would attract 1,028 riders in each direction in 2010, doubling ridership by 2030; this would be equivalent to expanding the freeway by to lane over the extension, and "when compared to the cost of constructing equivalent freeway capacity", the project would "pay for itself in one year".
The cost of operating commuter rail from the anticipated start of service until 2030 was estimated at for two daily round trips, including an expansion to four round trips daily within ten years. Extensions to Hollister have been proposed since at least 2003. This project depends on state and federal funding availability, a possible local sales tax measure, and an agreement with UPRR, the owner of the Coast Line. This project is managed by TAMC, who released the Final Environment Impact Report for this project in 2006.

''Capitol Corridor''

In 2009, Caltrain requested that TAMC approach other train operators. TAMC subsequently opened discussions with the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority and the Caltrans Division of Rail to extend Capitol Corridor service south from San Jose to Salinas using the same Coast Line routing and stations. The switch to Capitol Corridor was cited as an advantage, since CCJPA had experience with commuter trains sharing service on UPRR-owned freight right-of-way. Two Capitol Corridor trains would originate from Salinas in the mornings and run through to San Jose and on to Sacramento, with two evening trains making the return trip south to Salinas.
By 2016, plans had shifted to favor an extension of Capitol Corridor to Salinas. In 2018, the awarding of Road Repair and Accountability Act funds, Caltrain was named as the operator of the first commuter rail service to Salinas, with an extension of the Capitol Corridor service to follow.
By March 2020, two daily Caltrain round trips were planned to begin in 2022 after the completion of the Salinas layover facility and trackwork at Gilroy. Future phases would add stations at Pajaro/Watsonville and Castroville, with the potential for up to six daily round trips., construction necessary for the Salinas service is expected to begin in the summer of 2025.

Route

Rail passenger traffic between Salinas and Tamien will run over the existing Union Pacific-owned Coast Subdivision. The three phases of the MCRX project are centered around the three stations that will be built or rebuilt for passenger service:
  1. Salinas
  2. Pajaro/Watsonville
  3. Castroville

    Phase 1 — Salinas

The first phase of the project will extend the southern terminus to the existing Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center and improve it. In addition, the layover yard will be moved from Gilroy to a new site in Salinas, and the Gilroy station will be upgraded to allow through-traffic by extending the PCJPB-owned tracks south across 10th Street in Gilroy to connect with the Coast Line.
Work on the Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center has been ongoing since June 1996. The city of Salinas finalized site plans in June 1998 and acquired the station site in 1999 from the UPRR, then subsequently constructed the existing Amtrak facility. Construction on Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center was completed in January 2021 at an estimated cost of $11.2 million; it has been upgraded with an intermodal transfer area using five bus bays in the station parking lot, and Lincoln Avenue has been extended across West Market Street with a new signalized intersection to facilitate traffic flows.
The next part of the work involves construction of an overnight train layover facility at Salinas. The cost of the Salinas train layover facility is estimated to be $25 million. By 2022, the project was expected to start accepting bids for construction in 2024 and finish as early as 2025. This timeline had been pushed back by 2025, with the layover facility expected to be completed in 2028. Gilroy track modifications are scheduled for approximately the same time with an estimated cost of $16 million; the scope and schedule need approval from Union Pacific.