Center for Design and Construction of 21st Century Rail

Although this plan was created with one particular city in mind, it could be replicated many places in the United States, with the support of regional leaders.

For the past 20 years, engineers in Germany, France, Italy and Japan have been designing and building high-speed trains. Europe will soon be cross-linked by high-speed rail, bringing increased economic growth, transportation efficiency, reduced reliance on oil, and cleaner air.  No such luck here in the United States, where rail transportation is a shambles in most places, even as we choke on our own exhaust.

Case in point: Sacramento, California, where a huge, dilapidated rail yard lurks immediately north of downtown. The yard is so large, it could nearly double the size of downtown if developed.  But no trains have been built at the Sacramento Locomotive Works for years. The Sacramento Valley regularly ranks as one of the 10 most polluted air basins in the United States, most of that pollution comes from cars and trucks.

The least offensive scenario offered for the Sacramento railyards so far is to meld a chunk of it into the nearby State Railroad Museum; to retrofit one or two of the old shops and use them to restore old rail cars, and to build a big promenade for all of those tourists who allegedly will be sucked in. How will all the tourists get there? By car, of course, and a huge parking lot will be needed.

Other plans for property include bland mixes of office and retail space, with greenbelts and the occasional "intermodal transit facility." Frightfully, some plans mention a "big-box" store, the death knell for existing downtown retailers, or similarly misguided "entertainment complexes."

The fate of the old railyards could well determine whether Sacramento, a metropolitan area of some 1 million people in the midst of the most productive farmland in the world, becomes a major world capital, or just another faceless, soul-less, sprawling, polluted, decrepit, unlivable American city.

A much better scenario for the city of Sacramento and all of its people would be a regional commitment to create the "Center for Design and Construction of 21st Century Rail" on this property.   The Center  will be a partnership between the city and county of Sacramento and local stakeholders, including, but not limited to:   

• The United States Department of Transportation
• California Department of Transportation
• California Department of Commerce
• Southern Pacific/Union Pacific railroads
• Sacramento Regional Transit
• Sacramento Municipal Utilities District
• The Pacific Gas & Electric Company
• The University of California at Davis
• The California State University at Sacramento
• Local community colleges and school districts
• The California High-Speed Rail Commission
• The California Rail Museum
• Siemens-Duewag
• Hewlett-Packard
• Intel
• NEC

The Center would have the following features:

• Rail prototyping and modeling teams
• Magnetic levitation technology teams
• Business incubation center for rail-related firms
• Rail think tank and conference facility
• Advanced rail academy for engineers
• Engineering scholarship program for promising local youths
• Other features as necessary or beneficial

The goals of the Center shall be:

• Training the next generation of rail engineers
• Building the most efficient trains on Earth
• Creating viable transit options for all Western United States residents

The design and production of the next generation of trains makes an ideal linchpin for regional economic development. A committed regional effort would be able to obtain federal  and private funds.  Over time, such an effort will pay huge dividends.

If Northern Californians can design and build the next generation of trains in Sacramento, and run those trains up and down the West Coast, we will go a long way toward cleaning up California's chronic air pollution problems and reducing dependency on imported petroleum. In the process, we will build a world-class technology community and create thousands of skilled, secure and generous-paying jobs that last for decades.  

The U.S. Government continues to subsidize the automobile and gasoline industry by constructing roads and highways with general tax dollars. The rail sector enjoys no such benefits. It's time to even the score and invest in smart growth and clean public infrastructure. Once proven, our rail technology can be sold around the world. High-speed rail works in France and Japan, and it can work in Northern California... if it offers a viable alternative to the destructive personal automobile.  California's central valley is long, flat and heavily populated; ideal for a magnetic levitation train.

Comments about, or other potential locations for, the Center for the Design and Production of 21st Century Rail, go below: