Dinner train between Santa Cruz and Davenport approved; funding still needed By Kurtis Alexander - Santa Cruz Sentinel Posted: 02/18/2010 01:15:18 PM PST Updated: 02/18/2010 03:06:38 PM PST County transportation leaders agreed today to allow a dinner train to run between Santa Cruz and Davenport - a move they hope will strengthen their bid to buy the county-long railroad. The county Regional Transportation Commission is counting on $20.2 million of state funds for the purchase of the 32-mile Union Pacific rail line between Watsonville and Davenport. However, with state funding tight, the money is no longer as likely as it once was. "Situations have changed since five years ago," said Luis Mendez, deputy director of the Regional Transportation Commission. "Adding a passenger component (to the our acquisition plan) provides a much stronger application to maintain the funding." The commission voted this morning to include a recreational service run by Sierra Northern in its plans. Sierra Northern is currently responsible for freight service on the Santa Cruz County line and the rail company runs passenger trains in other parts of the state. Today's vote allows Sierra Northern service to start without an environmental impact report, a study that a handful of members of the public insisted was necessary to better understand the realities of a new train. But commission leaders said the environmental report was not needed and couldn't be done in a timeframe that would give their funding application the competitive edge it needs. The transportation commission hopes to close its deal with Union Pacific in April and get the state money shortly after that. Much of the state funding, approved by voters for transit projects, is scheduled to expire in June.
