“Waiting for trains that aren’t coming.” Photo courtesy of Health and Sports editor Aidan Field.
In a world where climate change awareness is spreading just like the wildfire’s it’s causing, San Luis Obispo High School students are often forced to drive when they leave San Luis Obispo. SLO has only a few trains a day in our train station, forcing students and residents to rely on their cars whenever they need to go somewhere outside of our city.
“They [Amtrak Trains} do not directly affect us, but can be a unique and fun, albeit costly way to travel up and down the coast,” stated environmental club members May Ritter and Charlotte Sawyer.
The Surfliner, the main train line that services SLO, currently only has two direct trains servicing our local station. One of which almost always leaves before sunrise and the other usually leaves shortly after SLOHS ends classes for the day, meaning that students hoping to catch the southbound train after-school would have to make a mad dash to the train station in hopes of making it on time.
The second passenger train line that services SLO is the Coast Starlight. This line has only 1 train in each direction each day, and it’s the only train access SLO residents have to the bay area, or northern California and the Pacific Northwest. However, this train usually leaves SLO before school ends, meaning that students would have to miss an entire period of school to get on the northbound train.
This isn’t just a problem for SLO residents, it’s also a problem for anyone who lives on the central coast. Thousands of young people also live on the central coast to go to college, many of which are from the So-Cal or the bay.
California is currently building a very well needed new high-speed rail network, planning to connect the bay area, southern California, and Las Vegas. The earliest completion date set for this project is by the end of the decade, and that’s just for the central-valley portion of the project. A more immediate way of linking our state together could be by putting more trains on the already existing routes that run through the central coast. This will allow all of California to transition into a less car dependent society.
However, new public infrastructure is expensive. This is something that California’s projects have often encountered. The high-speed rail network is many times over budget. Our town also has already existing infrastructure.
“Our bus system is overlooked, as is our excellent biking infrastructure,” stated Sawyer and Ritter.
Often cars are the priority when it comes to building infrastructure and I think it’s time we start prioritizing the environment and affordable public transport.
For now all we can do is elect and support people who believe in this type of infrastructure, and bike or take the bus wherever fit.
Sources: amtrak.com
