Cross Valley Corridor

The Cross Valley Corridor is a proposed passenger rail service in the California Central Valley, connecting Visalia, Hanford, Porterville, and surrounding cities to each other and California High-Speed Rail's planned Kings–Tulare Regional Station.[1][2]

Cross Valley
Corridor
 Huron
SR 198
Fresno County
Kings County
 Lemoore NAS
SR 41
 Lemoore
 Hanford
SR 43
 Kings–Tulare
Kings County
Tulare County
SR 99
Union Pacific
Fresno Subdivision
 Goshen
Visalia
SR 198
 Farmersville
 Exeter
SR 65
 Lindsay
 Strathmore
 Porterville

The 80-mile (130 km) route is proposed to run mostly along existing tracks.[1] These rights-of way were originally constructed in the 1870s and 1880s by the Southern Pacific Railroad, which founded all the cities along the corridor when it first laid tracks, with the exception of the older city of Visalia. The tracks are currently owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, with the San Joaquin Valley Railroad operating on nearly all of the corridor, except for a 1-mile (1.6 km) portion of the Union Pacific mainline connecting the eastern and western branches near Goshen.[2] The easternmost 6 miles (9.7 km) of the route between Strathmore and Porterville were abandoned and the tracks pulled up, but the land was purchased by the City of Porterville to preserve the right-of-way.[1]

History

Initial studies of a passenger rail service were conducted in the mid-1990s.[2][3] A Cross Valley Rail Corridor Joint Powers Authority was founded, which raised $14.2 million from government and private sources to resurface the rail corridor in 2002–2003 to accommodate heavier freight traffic, and keep the line in operation in preparation for a passenger rail service.[3][4][5] A 2004 study revisited passenger rail plans.[6]

California High-Speed Rail offered $600,000 in funding for a station planning grant including the Cross Valley Corridor, providing that the City of Hanford (which is in Kings County) and Tulare County each provided $100,000 in matching funds. Hanford and Kings County have strongly opposed the high-speed rail project, while Visalia and Tulare County have supported it. In August 2015, the Hanford City Council voted not to spend the funds, but Tulare County officials proceeded with the planning process.[7][8]

In April 2017, the Tulare County Association of Governments released an existing conditions report.[2] In June 2018, it approved a final plan.[9][10] The line was included in the 2018 California State Rail Plan as part of the 2040 Vision.[11][12]

References
  1. Ellis, Reggie (2017-09-06). "Plan to revive rail between Kings and Tulare counties, public workshop Sept. 13". The Foothills Sun-Gazette. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  2. "Cross Valley Corridor Plan Existing Conditions Report" (PDF). Tulare County Association of Governments. 2017-04-19. pp. 5–7, 112, 139. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  3. Yamashita, Eiji (2003-09-27). "Cross Valley rail work is complete, celebration set". Hanford Sentinel. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  4. "Cross Valley Rail Corridor Groundbreaking Ceremony". City of Lemoore. 2002-05-03. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  5. "RailAmerica's San Joaquin Valley Railroad Joins the Celebration to Mark the Completion of the Cross Valley Rail Corridor". BusinessWire. 2003-10-09. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  6. "Cross Valley Rail Corridor Passenger Rail Study" (PDF). Kings County Association of Governments. 2004-06-01. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  7. Lindt, John (2015-08-05). "Hanford council nixes rail station planning grant". The Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  8. Camarena, Andrea (2015-10-07). "Visalia on-board with High Speed Rail study". The Foothills Sun-Gazette. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  9. Castellon, David (2018-06-19). "Commuter train through Kings, Tulare Counties proposed". The Business Journal. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  10. Johnson, Brian (2018-06-21). "Cross Valley Corridor train would connect South Valley to High-Speed Rail". ABC30 Fresno. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  11. "2018 California State Rail Plan (Draft)" (PDF). CalTrans. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  12. https://thesungazette.com/article/news/2019/12/25/lindsay-lands-250k-deal-for-new-transit-center/
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