There has been considerable debate recently about the BART extension to SFO, the failure of the line to attract projected ridership, and the cost to SamTrans, the mid-peninsula agency underwriting some of the costs of the two stations in San Mateo County.

First, let me say, that BART would have been better off either not building the line at all and using the money for improvements elsewhere, or, building it into the CalTrain Millbrae Station with the airport’s people mover, known as SkyTrain, operating over to the Millbrae Station. The CalTrain connection from San Francisco and from San Jose would have provided it with sufficient ridership to warrant the cost of building the line to Millbrae. In fact, it could have been operated like the new people mover at JFK known as Airtrain, that is, free within the airport and to the rental car lot but with a nominal fee charged outside airport grounds. In this case to Caltrain at Millbrae. In hindsight this looks like a much better deal with recent increases in the number of trains operated by Caltrain plus the "baby bullet" trains which have speeded up peninsula travel times.

Unfortunately BART has always wanted to "fly to the moon". That started with their original staff and the prime contractor, Rohr, a failing aircraft manufacturing company that had no experience in the rail industry. There have been some improvements along the way but basically we are stuck with a two track system containing many bottlenecks when a train fails to operate. At least BART has three to four tracks between Daly City and SFO but where a third track was needed was between 24th Street/Mission and Embarcadero and probably continuing through the Trans-Bay tube to downtown Oakland. That can’t be done now but at least delays seem to be less frequent these days due to improvement in software and hardware on the trains as well as a better train control system in BART central. Another failure of the original design was in not having full manual control available to assist when needed. Had Siemens, the second low bidder for the original BART contract been awarded the contract, we would have a much different and better system.

Another expensive mistake by BART was building their Pleasanton extension via I-580, a long stretch with nothing but rolling hills. It should have been a branch of the Concord line running down I-680 where there are several cities and many homes. That is, trains to Pleasanton would have split off before reaching the Walnut Creek Station and gone south from there. As it now stands, further expansion plans of the Pleasanton line still seems to bypass Livermore, the original destination for that line, for other nearby locations. I have one question. WHY? What goes on in the minds of BART officials or does anything? And now they want to extend the Pittsburg/Bay Point line even further into the suburbs. Will this really help and can a two track system with limited capacity and trains so infrequent and far apart that waits are excruciatingly long for those on the outer fringes of the system? We have suffered from poor planning from the beginning and faulty planning seems to plague us to this day. An extension of the Pittsburgh/Bay Point line without the capability of running express trains most or part of the way, will mean jammed trains before they reach downtown Oakland.

I am a member of the Boston Electric Street Railway Association, the Market Street Railway Association, National Association of Railroad Passengers, and TRAC (Train Riders Association of California). I have had a life long interest in trains and transit but I see various agencies in this country bumbling along with no clear vision as to how to do anything.

Yes, BART was needed since no one seems to have wanted to continue supporting the Key System but it is frustrating when I see how efficient system operate in New York City, London, Paris, Taipei, and Singapore are and how many problems exist here.

Even the good things, Capitol Corridor trains to Sacramento for example, have their problems as they are too slow and despite recent track improvements, still offer a rough ride when compared to France, Italy, and other European countries. In fact, in those countries, local trains travel faster than most Amtrak trains. The Capitol Corridor trains to Sacramento should take one hour, not two. The TGV in France covers the Paris to Avignon run (similar in distance to San Francisco to Los Angeles) in four hours whereas it takes Amtrak all day to cover similar mileage. Only the Northeast Corridor has anything resembling European standards but even there they are hampered by archaic federal regulations which prevent them from buying "off the shelf" from Europe for "safety" reasons. I guess American trains are supposed to built like a Sherman or Bradley tank and perform better in crashes. Oh, good grief. How about preventing crashes in the first place? For one thing, on high speed lines in Europe everything is grade separated but even the local lines for the most part are protected by industrial strength gates and gantries on BOTH side of the tracks and for the full width of the street. As for the regulation about crash worthiness, this prevents the U.S. from purchasing proven technology. Witness the on-going problems with the Acela trains on the Northeast Corridor which had to built to American standards.

Another problem in this country is the freight railroads that want to super size everything. Their trains are so heavy and long that there are few sidings capable of handling that many cars at one time which in turn makes it difficult for faster passenger trains to pass. Also, the heavy weight of those freights plays havoc with the rail bed and things wear out much faster than they should. Also, in Europe and elsewhere, freight and passenger lines are kept separate where possible and even where rights-of-way are shared, there are four or more tracks to handle both modes of traffic.

To quote a friend from another country, railroads in the U.S. are pathetic and I totally agree. I have nearly given up hope that Americans will do the right thing when it comes to rail travel whether it be mass transit or mainline railroads.