Santa Cruz — Trolley Plan Underway

Rail Transit Online, June 2003

The Regional Transportation Commission on May 1 voted to begin an application process for $11 million in state funding that would be used to help purchase a Union Pacific branch line from Davenport to Watsonville, part of which would be converted to a streetcar or historic trolley line designed to attract tourists (see RTOL, May 2003).  The commission also agreed to fund an $85,000 environmental study for the rail link between Capitola Village and Seascape.  Most of those who testified at the commission meeting favored the proposal, with one noting that the trolley would cost a small fraction of a local highway widening project already underway.  Others who have seen similar systems in the U.S. and Europe said they are quiet, environmentally friendly and raise property values.  The commission has already received unsolicited expressions of interest from two rail companies interested in operating the line, which could be the largest public transportation project even undertaken in Santa Cruz County.