Monterey Branch Line
{{Short description|Railway line in Monterey County, California}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
File:SP 3004 with the Del Monte at Marina, April 1971.jpg, 1971]]
File:Salinas River railroad bridge, March 2020.JPG bridge, March 2020]]
{{Monterey branch}}
The Monterey Branch Line is a railway line located in Monterey County, California. It runs {{convert|16|mi}} between Castroville, where it connects to the Union Pacific Coast Line, and Monterey, formerly running as far as Pacific Grove. It is roughly paralleled by California State Route 1.
History
Originally built by the {{visible anchor|Monterey and Salinas Valley Railroad}}, the line was the first narrow gauge railroad to operate in California with 3-foot gauge tracks laid between Salinas and Monterey.{{Schwieterman-Leaves-Western|pages=55-59}} As was common when new railroads were built, freight rates dropped to a fraction of what they had been previously, compared to what they had been with wagon transportation or existing rail lines.Floyd, Donald R. California Narrow Gauge: The Role of Narrow-Gauge Railroads in California's Transportation Network, pp. 20, 22, 45, The Gibson Press, Mountain View, California, 1970.
However, the new line saw financial issues very soon after opening and was purchased by a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific on September 29, 1879.Hilton, George W. American Narrow Gauge Railroads, p. 326, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1990. A new branch north to Castroville was constructed by the new owners and the western portion converted to standard gauge with the Hotel Del Monte opening the following year. This allowed direct passenger leisure services to run from San Francisco. The line came under the auspices of Southern Pacific proper in 1888 and was extended west past Pacific Grove to a facility at Lake Mejella. By the 1950s, sand made the bulk of freight moved along the route. Passenger rail service ended with the cancellation of the Del Monte after April 30, 1971, when Amtrak took over passenger rail services in the United States. Tracks were realigned with the construction of State Route 1, but the rails west of Seaside were abandoned in 1979. The tracks in Pacific Grove and Monterey were removed in the 1980s and the former right-of-way is now the Monterey Bay Recreation Trail.{{cite web|url=http://www.seemonterey.com/things-to-do/parks/coastal-trail/|title=Monterey County California - Things to Do - Outdoor Activities, Animals & Wildlife, Arts & Culture, Historic Sites, Wine: Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail|accessdate=2012-12-01}}
The Salinas River bridge was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake — reconstruction time as well as the closure of Fort Ord in 1993 left almost no activity on the line, and it was abandoned soon after that. The full line was purchased by the Transportation Authority for Monterey County (TAMC) in 2003 for $9.3 million (${{Format price|{{Inflation|US|9000000|2003}} }} in {{inflation year|US}} adjusted for inflation).
Planned restoration
Restoration of Del Monte-like service to Monterey had been identified as early as the Caltrans 1984–89 Rail passenger development plan. Amtrak declined to operate such service, but operations under Southern Pacific (by then running state-subsidized services) were studied with ridership forecast developed.{{CA-Rail Passenger Development Plan-1984}} The TAMC opted to initiate Caltrain service to Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center in 2021.
TAMC has put forward plans to rebuild the line and commence a rail service between Monterey and Castroville.{{cite news |last1=Freemark |first1=Yonah |title=Monterey County Selects Light Rail as Preferred Local Transit Alternative |url=https://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2009/10/29/monterey-county-selects-light-rail-as-preferred-local-transit-alternative/ |accessdate=25 May 2020 |agency=The Transport Politic}} The project calls for diesel light rail trains to operate at twelve stations from Custom House Plaza in Monterey and the future Castroville Caltrain station.{{cite web |title=Monterey Branch Line |url=https://www.tamcmonterey.org/programs/rail/monterey-branch-line/ |publisher=Transportation Agency for Monterey County |accessdate=10 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318130425/https://www.tamcmonterey.org/programs/rail/monterey-branch-line/ |archive-date=18 March 2020}} The route was included in the 2018 California State Rail Plan as eligible for further study in 2022 and integration into the state rail network by 2040.{{cite web|title=2018 California State Rail Plan|url=https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/rail-mass-transportation/documents/rail-plan/4-chapter-4csrpfinal.pdf|publisher=CalTrans|accessdate=25 May 2020}}
{{As of|2024}}, Monterey–Salinas Transit plans to construct a busway on the former Monterey Branch Line between Marina and Sand City.{{cite web |url=https://mst.org/2020-annual-report/surf-busway-plans/ |title=MST Making Headway with SURF! Busway Plans |work=2020 Annual Report |publisher=Monterey–Salinas Transit}}{{Cite web |last=Schmalz |first=David |date=2024-11-21 |title=Monterey-Salinas Transit’s SURF! project is hurtling ahead at great expense. Is it worth it? |url=https://www.montereycountynow.com/news/cover/monterey-salinas-transit-s-surf-project-is-hurtling-ahead-at-great-expense-is-it-worth/article_9cdfb02c-a79f-11ef-90f4-3f5204fe4466.html |access-date=2024-12-12 |website=Monterey County NOW |language=en}}
Part of the line is now used by the tourist railfan group Handcar Tours, which hosts rides on manually-powered handcars and electrically-powered railbikes.{{cite news |last1=Barned-Smith |first1=St. John |title=Stretch of California railroad tracks at center of bitter legal battle: ‘Once it’s gone, it’s gone’ |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/monterey-railroad-tracks-legal-battle-19973788.php |access-date=4 January 2025 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=January 3, 2024}}