The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission voted unanimously to purchase the 32-mile Union Pacific rail line for $14.2 million.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission voted unanimously to purchase the 32-mile Union Pacific rail line for $14.2 million. Another $7 million will be needed for repairs, maintenance, and administrative costs. A public hearing on the purchase is scheduled for April 14.
Until this year, the line was used mainly by the Cemex cement factory in Davenport. When it closed this year, the line went unused. The Regional Transportation Committee is now proposing the transformation of the line into a dinner tourist train, with hiking and bike paths running alongside it.
The decision was condemned by Aptos resident Robert Jones, whose property backs into the line. He called the RTC decision “fiscally irresponsible” and called for the money to be used to repair local roads and sidewalks and to develop other transportation infrastructure projects. Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel.
