Gov. Newsom's High-Speed Train Plan Casts Doubt On Salesforce Transit Center

Transbay Transit Center Support Columns
Photo credit Matt Bigler/KCBS Radio

SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement that the state would prioritize the Central Valley section of its contentious high speed rail project, has increased worries that newly built, yet damaged Salesforce Transit Center will become irrelevant for train passengers.

The troubled Salesforce Transit Center —which was heralded as the "Grand Central Station of the West" at its opening — has stood empty for more than half a year, after cracks were found in the steel beams that support the building’s blocks-long rooftop park.

Newsom’s announcement that the Los Angeles to San Francisco high speed rail project is financially and logistically unviable was met with cheers from the project’s detractors, but confusion by transit planners and government leaders, for whom years of planning and billions in funding remain in limbo.

The lower, unfinished level of the $2.2 billion center was designed to one day serve as the northern terminus of the high speed rail project, via CalTrain, which would require the construction of a link for electrified trains to travel between the city and San Jose.

But with or without the completed high speed rail project, San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, chair of the Board’s Land Use and Transportation Committee, told KCBS Radio that the Salesforce center will still serve as a regional rail hub—even if the Bay Area has to go it alone.

“I think we will find out in the days and weeks ahead exactly what the governor meant, as it pertains to the future of high-speed rail,” he said, referring to the ambiguity of the remarks made in Newsom’s State of the State Address. “But in any event, the region remains committed, and San Francisco remains committed, to bringing CalTrain into San Francisco’s downtown core.”

Media coverage of Tuesday’s State of the State Address, the first by the newly elected governor, emphasized that Newsom had dashed any hope of a high speed rail connection between San Francisco and L.A. But others, including prominent supporters of high speed rail, like State Senator Scott Wiener, believe the change is simply a shift in priorities to complete the Central Valley segment first.

The press is inaccurately reporting that @GavinNewsom is killing #HighSpeedRail to Bay Area & LA. That’s not true. He said we must focus on completing Central Valley segment & then move forward from there. Bay Area & LA must be - & will be - part of CA’s high speed rail network.

— Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) February 12, 2019

Newsom also announced plans to downsize the controversial Delta "twin tunnels" plan, another pet project of his predecessor, ex-Gov. Jerry Brown.

While still in its early stages, Peskin said that voters chose to fund the project, and those funds remain committed to its implementation and that doing so remains a priority for the city. Meanwhile, transit officials have announced that repairs have begun on the center’s cracked beams, and crews hope to be completed by June. An official re-opening date has not been set.

Written by Jordan Bowen.