Historic Groundbreaking of First New High-Speed Rail Station in United States

Probably years too late, and with a price tag that could only be dreamed up by politicians with eyes on making their friends and relatives rich, America's railroad industry finally makes a stab at joining the 20th century - unfortunately, we are now in the 21st century.
"Sarcasm is just one of the free services that I regularly offer."
Marc J. Rauch, Exec. VP/Co-Publisher

SAN FRANCISCO - August 12, 2010: Federal, State and local officials joined together yesterday with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) and their honored guests to officially break ground on the Transbay Transit Center - the northern terminus for the California High Speed Rail system and a multi-modal facility that will accommodate eleven transit operators and serve more than 45 million passengers a year.

"In breaking ground on the Transbay Transit Center, we are opening a new chapter in that history of progress, one socialist politician said. "We are coming together to create jobs and revitalize our economy, and we are laying the first building blocks of a new "Grand Central Station of the West."

The project is estimated to create more than 48,000 jobs in its first phase of construction, which will last seven years. These jobs include the people who will design, build and operate the facility, the manufacturing jobs created by the materials being utilized in the facility and the businesses providing consumer goods and services to workers and the passengers utilizing the Transit Center.

"This is one of the most important and transformational public transportation projects in America. Once the dust has settled, San Francisco's skyline will be transformed - as will transportation, housing, and employment choices for people across the Bay area and beyond," said United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration are proud to contribute to the first phase of this effort."

Ray LaHood was probably thrilled to be away from Washington so that he could avoid the shame of having to admit that the firestorm against Toyota 'sudden unintended acceleration' that he helped to ignite was proven to be a fraud. I guess it could be said that he traded one "railroading" project for another railroading project. Hey, there's that sarcasm again.

The full Phase 1 (Transit Center) and Phase 2 (Downtown Rail Extension) project and build out of the Redevelopment Plan will also increase the gross regional product in the Bay Area by $80 billion.

"This is a historic day for San Francisco and for the entire State," said Mayor Newsom. "History will write that High-Speed Rail and a new engine for job creation and economic growth in California began today, with the groundbreaking of this project. It is a culmination of decades of planning to fulfill our City's vision of leading the nation as a transit-first City and a hub of a modern High-Speed Rail system."

For more than 40 years, San Francisco has been planning for the replacement of the outdated and seismically deficient Transbay Terminal at First and Mission streets. The new one million square foot Transbay Transit Center will serve as San Francisco's next landmark and will feature a 5.4-acre public park on the roof of the Transit Center.

The five-story Transit Center includes: one above-grade bus level, a ground floor entrance on Mission Street, concourse level, and two below-grade rail levels serving Caltrain and future California High-Speed Rail.

"We are very proud of what our facility will do for San Francisco, and we are equally proud of the fact that we will become the first new station on the High-Speed Rail system to move into construction," said Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr., Chairman of the TJPA Board. This is a moment in history to be remembered. While we break ground on this significant achievement, we must be proud of the work we've done and for the foundation built by those who came before us."

The $4.2 billion Transbay Transit Center Project is funded by various funding partners including the Federal Government, the State of California, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the San Francisco County and San Mateo County Transportation Authorities and AC Transit, among others. The first phase of the program, which includes constructing the new Transit Center, is fully funded.

"Today we deliver to the public the first new High-Speed Rail station in the United States, the first modern regional bus station in more than 60 years, and after more than 100 years, a downtown San Francisco train station," said Maria Ayerdi-Kaplan, Executive Director, TJPA. "This is truly an important time for our City and our State. We are making a real and lasting investment to improve our public infrastructure system while protecting our environment and creating new jobs."

The new Transbay Transit Center is scheduled to open in August 2017.

For more information, visit www.transbaycenter.org