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The Central Valley, andFresno County in particularoperates on a largely

agriculture economy. A largeone, at $5.4 billion in 2009, butone with historically high ratesof unemployment. High-speedrail will diversify that economicbase, creating a new workforce directly and indirectly during and after construction.

Californias long-studied and currently much-talked-about High Speed Rail (HSR) project isabout to become reality. What that means for

us in the Central Valley as a region, and in Fresno asground zero for the start of this most ambitiousproject: a positive, clean, environmentally soundtransportation alternative that will infuse into oursagging agrarian economy a much needed game-changing boost that will be beneficial for at leastthe next 100 years.

Economics

The advent of 135,000 permanent constructionjobs on the Merced-Bakersfield segment is agame-changer for the Valley, especially with ouralmost record- setting unemployment rates ranginganywhere from 16.3% to 19.5% in various Central

Valley counties. (Source, Fresno Bee).Adding in the impact of locating the Heavy

Maintenance Facility in Fresno County, which willbecome the operational foundation of the entiresystem on this segment, is another 600 to 1,300permanent high-tech, high-paying jobs. (Thisdoesnt take into account the permanent jobscreated by the operation of the system and itsancillary services.) Given the financial incentivesalong with our local technical training alliances withour higher education system (CSUF, SCCCD, FPU),this is not an unrealistic expectation.

Additionally, the reality that all HSR contractorsand vendors will need to not only have theirproducts tested and certified by the Federal Railroad

Administration (FRA),hopefully right here in the

Valley, these same companieswill need a venue where theycan showcase their wares tothe rest of the U.S. high-speedrail market. This adds thepotential for hundreds more

jobs. Many of these companieshave already expressed in

writing their respective interestin investing heavily in thissoon-to-be-reality high-speedtrain system.

Fresnos downtown stationlocation will return downtownto the center of transportationactivity it was in the halcyondays of passenger rail servicethat ended in the early 60s. Additionally, station

area development will be an integral part of thisrenewed economic engine repowering an honest

downtown revitalization. This downtown renewal is

not a pipe-dream, but has been witnessed in almost

every city center in Europe and Asia, with the

advent of a downtown/city center HSR passenger

station.

Environmental

We have recently been told by some of our Valley

SEE COMMERCE, PAGE 7

High-speed rail projectsimpact could be staggering

The clean, environmentally sound transportation alternative will create jobs unlike any project the Central Valley

has seen. Just imagine what 135,000 new jobs could mean for the economy.by Edward P. Graveline, Former Vice Chair of the California High Speed Rail Authority

Processing commercial materials

Processing C&D materials, sel-haul materials,

and Operation Clean-up materials

Transerring solid waste to a permitted landfll

Sub-contracting the transportation o solid wastes

Cedar Ave. Recycling and Transfer Station

Caglia Demolition & Recycling Company

The Caglia FamilySupports High Speed Rail

Lets Address the Challengesand Issues and Make It Happen

287354

Trainset fabrication Train control-signaling

Communications

Central control center

Operations and power supply

Electrification/traction

Traction power supply stations

Switching/paralleling stations

Overhead contact systems (OCS)

Track, ties/ballast, fastening system

Maintenance equipment fortrains and systems

Service planning and fare setting

Operations planning, scheduling, fees Train driving and dispatching

On-board passenger services

Ticketing and revenue accounting

Station services and security

Train servicing and inspection

Train maintenance

Fixed core system and infrastructureinspection and maintenance

MAINTENANCE JOBS:

CORE SYSTEM JOBS:

OPERATIONS JOBS:

Fresnos downtown

station location will

return downtown to

the center of trans-

portation activity it

was in the halcyon

days of passenger

rail service that

ended in the early

60s. Edward P. Graveline

6 SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2011 A CUSTOM PUBLICATION OF THE FRESNO BEE