Wedensday, May 15, 2013, yet another death on Caltrain's Peninsula tracks, the second in one month, the eighth this year, 36 since 1/1/2011, and 196th since I started my count, courtesy of excellent reporting by the Bay Area News Group's San Jose Mercury News and Peninsula Daily News.
This death, in San Bruno, was a totally unnecessary accident on the outdated, Express Caltrain's dangerous street-level tracks, that run parallel to BART tracks are far superior in efficiency, Bay Area reach, safety, run more frequently at similar top speed (up to 79 mph) and are already grade-separated, and electrified with Positive Train Control enhancements--all of which Bay Area Democrats and their Spend, Spend, Spend union puppeteers want to spend tax monies on Caltrain trackage to duplicate--even though BART already covers the first 15 miles from San Francisco to Millbrae! What is wrong with this picture?!
BART only needs to extend 28 miles south from Millbrae to Santa Clara University while San Jose/Santa Clara and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority ("VTA") continue their work to reach Santa Clara University from the South and East Bay.
I suppose San Francisco Bay Area Politicians that comprise an inflexible, arrogant, un-innovative, Democrat monopoly of majority elected public officials that reach from almost all city councils, county bodies, then up through regional decision-making bodies, including all state and federal legislative officials are simply unable to break away from their special-intere$t, campaign funders of high-density developers, contractors, consultants and the human-subordinating Sierra Club, masking itself locally as self-proclaimed "Friends of Caltrain" human life-taking advocates.
Sadly for those who may either take their own life in a moment of despondency, mental illness, or simply by accident of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Caltrain is now primarily and simply the "Blended Solution" placeholder for High Speed Rail, killing at least one person each month. This "placeholder" strategy is derived by 2012 on-air interviews of both Governor Jerry Brown and South Bay, CaHSR Chairman "Emeritus" (as he arrogantly labels himself), now US HSR Association Chairman, where they each stated that they have been working to get HSR into California for "30 years." Caltrain was revived with taxpayer funds from Souther Pacific 30 years ago. No coincidence. Pity for so many who have died on Caltrain tracks during this time and yet not one "Caring" Democrat has stepped forward to articulate the need to move beyond the Caltrain "Killtrain" during that time to the reasonable and more appropriate, safter, integrated, electrified, more frequent, lower-profile, sleeker, less obtrusive BART trains...around the Bay.
Note: Gov. Jerry Brown was interviewed by Bob Schiefer on a 2012 Sunday's Face The Nation. Rod Diridon Sr. was interviewed separately on a KBAY radio's 6:00am Sunday show in 2012.
Indeed, worse yet that not even one of the Peninsula, San Francisco, nor San Jose Democrats has stepped forward to restart talks with BART to initiate and fund the study to get the final gap closure, replacing the Caltrain "Killtrain", with a load balancing, one-seat (no transfer) two-way around the Bay BART loop. The Democrats are clearly bought and paid for by their few $pecial interest constituencies (what else is new for Democrats?).
Neither State Senator Jerry Hill nor Congresswoman Jackie Speier have taken up the cause to initiate a study to replace the Caltrain "Killtrain" with BART, despite their often run before news cameras and other media to proclaim their latest headline-grabbing proposals. About the Caltrain's ongoing deaths, monthly and over the years, including the years when they both were on the Caltrain governing board, and each of whom served as its Chairperson. Where are these righteous elected officials when it comes to the obvious, regular deaths and dismemberments under Caltrain locomotive wheels and rails? Hello?
Where are other, mostly Democrat, regional opinion leaders?
Hill jumps before cameras to stand up for the (only) 8 who died in the San Bruno pipeline explosion, 1 who died in a Party Bus accident, and the 5 who died in the San Mateo Bridge Limousine fire. Speier jumps before cameras to fight rightly for finance reform, military rape and assault rectitude, gun-control, and, runs on the platform of deaths around and in her each year, harking back to the Democrat-schmoozing George Jones, Jonestown Guyana, cultish, mass killings and killing of her late boss Congressman Leo Ryan up to 2012's election-year announcement of her past abortion.
In some of the safer Peninsula communities, such as Palo Alto, San Bruno, Burlingame, etc, one can suspect the likelhood that, on average, each year more people die by Caltrain than by illegal gun use.
What will it take to stop the Caltrain carnage of 12-16 people per year, especially when BART is so readily available, frees up Caltrain station land in SF and south, and improves regional and Peninsula rail arterial traffic, congestion relief, safery, and trainsit efficiency? How many more must die before the $5Billion now being sought to upgrade the redundant, deadly Caltrain, can instead be redirected to close the final BART gap Around The Bay?
Hello? Does anyone care enough to look forward to more modern rail transit and save lives as well?
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