Fallbrook could be connected to Coaster

The Marine Corps is interested in building a Coaster station on Camp Pendleton. The Coaster is the modern, efficient commuter train that runs between Oceanside and San Diego. The Marines see the Coaster as a convenient and cost effective way to move people between the Base and Oceanside as well as north and south along the coast.

The project would be relatively low cost because the tracks, called the Fallbrook spur, already extend from the Coaster maintenance facility at the southwest corner of the base to the Naval Weapons Station. Why not extend the line a short distance farther to Fallbrook?

A Coaster station downtown would go a long way toward revitalizing Fallbrook for short money. The tracks already run to the edge of town. A Coaster station is basically a covered platform and a parking lot. Lay the tracks, build the station and we would have rail access to San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles, all without having to drive on Highway 76, I-15 or I-5.

We are already paying public transit taxes. Are we getting our money’s worth? This project would be expensive, but even if they laid the tracks with gold plated spikes, it would be a mere fraction of what it’s costing to widen Highway 76. Now is the time to do this, in conjunction with the Marines’ proposed project.

I’m tired of sitting in gridlock on 76. I rode the last passenger train into Fallbrook in 1964. I highly recommend the experience. All aboard?

James B. Jackson