California High-Speed Rail

California High Speed Rail is a proposed high speed rail system in the state of California.

The system will be planned by the California High Speed Rail Authority, which will plan, design, build and operate the system.

If built, bullet trains will be able to speed across California at speeds of up to 220 mph, potentially linking San Francisco to Los Angeles in around two and one-half hours.

Funding

A state-wide ballot measure to fund the core segment of the high speed rail is scheduled for the 2006 general election. If passed, the ballot measure would provide US$9 billion for the construction of the core segment between San Francisco and Los Angeles and an additional US$950 million for improvements on local railroad systems, which would serve as feeder systems for high speed rail mainline. However, the project would still depend on federal matching funds, since as US$9 billion bond issue would cover at most half of the estimated cost of the initial core segment. According to a 2004 estimate, the complete system would likely have a cost of US$30 billion, making it necessary to procure US$21 billion in funding from private and federal sources just to build the system.

As of January 2006, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger chose to not include the initial funds for the California High-Speed Rail Project in his $222 billion dollar Public Works Bond over the next 10 years. California lawmakers are also trying to omit the $9 billion dollar core segment bond from the 2006 California general election.

Route

The system will initially stretch from San Francisco and Sacramento, via the Central Valley, and onward to Los Angeles and San Diego via the Inland Empire.

Proposed stations on the route include:

External links

California High Speed Rail Authority
Architecture21 - Present reasons for using the Altamont alignment.
The Full Cost of Intercity Transportation Study done at University of California, Berkeley examining the system