Why in southern california there is not one unified rail line?

Question

for example if i want to get to Los Angeles from San Bernardino i will take the metrolink (san bernardino line). but if i want to go from la to pasadena, i have to take the metro (gold line). now if i want to head towards san diego, i have to take amtrack california (pacific surfliner) . then in san diego i will have to take the coaster if i want to head to oceanside and the sprinter if i want to head into escondido . and if i want to head into downtown san Diego i have to take the san diego trolly system. why can there be only one or two rail systems instead of 6

Answer 1

Because the funding sources are different.

Amtrak is state and federally funded.  Metrolink is funded and run by a joint powers authority of all the counties concerned.  MTA is Los Angeles County.

Answer 2

Well JN, I'm from Northern California, but lived in San Diego for 12 years with the Navy and have your answer...

IF you were to take those various lines and look at them on a map... you'd notice that, for the most part, they don't cover more that two counties !!  Most of these systems have cropped up in the last 3 decades as traffic has become unbearable, and are designed and funded locally - by "Joint Powers Boards" with additional money from the State.

An example from Northern California would be BART:  Opened in 1972, Bay Area Rapid Transit was funded by San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, and Contra Costa counties... Santa Clara county was a "bedroom community" at the time and hadn't become the Silicon Valley... They also had train service to San Francisco via Southern Pacific, so they opted out of the contract.

Also, in initial design San Mateo County only had 2 stops on it's northern border with San Francisco County... not even a line to the San Francisco International Airport (which is in the heart of San Mateo County).  SO, while BART was it's own entity, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties spent their money on the roads and bus systems.

Just a few years later in 1977, Southern Pacific got permission to STOP the commuter line from Santa Clara to San Francisco... and in 1987 it was restarted under the name CALTRAIN, operated by the Penisula Joint Powers Board, and funded by the State, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

NOW, BART has expanded to the Airport, but no further south.  It has also expanded greatly in Alameda and Contra Costa counties into newly grown bedroom communites. HOWEVER, it refuses to extend into Santa Clara county UNLESS that county pays Billions to "pay" for not joining back in the 1970's.

Interestingly... in the 90's, another train system arose to help the dot-com commuters.  ACE Altamont Communter Express runs on UP tracks from Stockton to San Jose.  Hundreds of thousands of folks had moved from the expensive housing of the Bay Area to the San Joaquin Valley (Stockton), but kept their Silicon Valley jobs.  At the time, the commute by car was 3-4 hours... the train was 3 hours (and you can sleep or work).

WHY multiple systems ?? The counties have organized them as the need sprouted up... there is no "State" control.  California ALSO took over in state routes from Amtrak, forming Cal-Amtrak.

Answer 3

It's political.

Answer 4

So,why, people are called californian