New high-speed rail report includes proposals to skip Merced, expand to Gilroy

MERCED, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A new report released by the California High Speed Rail Authority gives new insight into the profitability of the current project and what routes the project could take first.

Some of the new proposals include the possibility of not bringing the rail to the City of Merced. 

“I think we were a little surprised, taken a little off guard by it,” Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto said.

He said over the past few years, they’ve had a close working relationship with high-speed rail officials, making some of the proposals included in Friday’s report that much more of a shock.

The report looks at a few different options, starting with the current Merced to Bakersfield plan. In that section of the report, the HSRA said, “This specific scenario would not achieve a positive profitable outcome.”

It then goes on to show other options, including a few where, instead of going to Merced with high-speed rail, they connect Madera to Gilroy. Those scenarios offer service to Merced with regional railways. 

Serratto said those plans would be unfortunate for Merced. He said the city’s been planning for the station for years. 

“It’s a big impact. I mean, we’ve had a lot of been a lot of expectation, a lot of planning, a lot of people have bought property intending to develop it. We have a whole area around that, the station, which, you know, is ripe for transit-oriented development as well and for a lot of economic development. So, you know, could really have a significant negative impact if it doesn’t, you know, if it doesn’t arrive,” Serratto said. 

Other options look at connecting Bakersfield to Palmdale. 

California High Speed Rail Authority board member Henry Perea said these expansions have always been a part of the plan, and Merced will not be abandoned. 

“We were always intending to connect to the big population center of the state, it was never a Central Valley high-speed rail system. That did not make sense. That was never the plan. So now we’re at the point of construction where we’re saying, okay, moving forward, where do we go?” he added. 

Perea said these are all still just proposals, and it doesn’t impact the work they’re already doing, including construction on the railhead.  

Perea said even if the project changes, and they don’t build to Merced right away, the city will still eventually get connected to the project, as the authority wants to connect the rail up to Sacramento. 

“The critical part of this report is what we’re really doing is laying out options and saying this is if we want to connect to San Francisco first, we go this way. If we want to go, say San Francisco to Palmdale, then we go this way. But then this is what it costs,” Perea said. 

Still, Republican State Assemblymember David Tangipa said he’s had enough. 

“They actually finally admitted that I think a lot of people said they stated that this portion would not be profitable for a long time. And now, at least they are finally saying the truth there,” Tangipa said. 

Tangipa said, on top of concerns he has around the construction and funding, he said he was especially concerned with how the report states high-speed rail wants to attract private partnerships.

“What private entity is going to say, yeah, I’m going to invest in that while the federal government looks at trying to dismantle it,” Tangipa said. 

Serratto said they’re still hopeful the HSRA does decide to come to Merced first. He added they will continue to speak with the board at upcoming board meetings and fight for their city.

When it comes to connecting Gilroy to the Bay Area, Perea said they’ve made a lot of progress in fixing up CalTrain lines for the project, something that is detailed in the report.