Panel Appointed to Assess Rail Service Electrification

The Orange County Transportation Authority appointed a five-member subcommittee Monday to assess recommendations to electrify Southern California’s commuter and freight rail service to cut harmful diesel emissions.

The recommendations--written by a task force appointed by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and chaired by former Orange County supervisor Bruce Nestande--urged regional rail officials to go ahead with plans for new, diesel-powered commuter trains and proceed with the electrification process gradually. The task force also recommended investigating use of alternative fuels to power locomotives as another way to comply with the Federal Clean Air Act.

Regional planners and air quality officials have adopted a goal of 90% electrification of rail by the year 2010 to meet Clean Air Act’s requirements.

Nestande said the $4.6-billion project is the most cost-effective and conforms with the Clean Air Act’s requirements.

For weeks, OCTA board member Dana W. Reed has been critical of proposals to have the public pick up the tab for the total electrification bill through increased monthly electrical bills.

And Southern California Edison Co. officials have disputed the $4.6-billion price tag, saying they believe that it is possible to electrify rails for half as much or even less.

Still, OCTA officials are worried about the cost of electrifying the 806 miles of rail lines in Southern California, prospects for boosting consumers’ utility bills and the possibility that electrification could take two decades to complete.

The idea of passing electrification costs on to consumers through rate hikes infuriated several OCTA board members at the two-hour meeting held at OCTA’s headquarters in Santa Ana.

San Juan Capistrano Councilman Gary L. Hausdorfer, an OCTA board member, called the electrification task force report a “classic example of taking a good idea and burying it” in costly, bureaucratic proposals.

“Electrification overnight is impossible,” Hausdorfer said. “We must go back to Congress and express our frustration with the legislation that did not take into consideration the average citizen who says put the trains on the tracks and let’s use it” without waiting for electrically powered locomotives.

Orange County Supervisor Don R. Roth, also an OCTA board member, added:

“Raising billions of dollars on railroad electrification or raising utility rates is unconscionable.”

Nestande said the report did not call for consumer financing and it was up to the board to decide on the project’s funding.

After the transportation meeting Monday, Nestande described OCTA’s response as positive.

“At least the issue will be driven by the facts and not political posturing,” he said. “Now, they can quantify the various positions.”

OCTA board members Reed, Daniel H. Young, Charles Smith, Harriett M. Wieder and William Mahoney were appointed to the OCTA subcommittee to study the issue further.

The Southern California Regional Rail Authority will discuss electrification at its April 10 meeting.