Mar 5, 2009

Will Californians Embrace High-speed Trains?

In November, Californians approved Proposition 1A, putting a down payment on what will be America’s first high-speed train system. Now, the recently approved federal economic stimulus package could seal the deal by providing up to $2 billion in funding for a high-speed train service that will extend over 800 miles and could send trains hurtling along at 220 miles per hour. The plan offered by the California High-Speed Rail Authority is to link all major cities in California with a new transportation option that will increase mobility while cutting air pollution and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that possibly contribute to global climate change. Advocates of the high-speed rail system say that building the system will cost less than half the cost of freeway and aviation alternatives, and they claim that operating the system will create an annual surplus of over $1 billion.

“I’m delighted to see that the momentum has shifted in favor of high-speed train transportation in the U.S.,” said Quentin L. Kopp, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. “The Department of Transportation will be issuing guidelines for how competitive grants will be awarded within 120 days. The California High-Speed Rail Authority has outlined for our Congressional leaders how it can utilize at least $2 billion of the allocation by the Sept. 30, 2012, deadline and will continue to prepare and refine its official application over the next several months as guidelines are known.”

Just so you know where some of your $8 billion is destined to go, part of it is expected to help fund grade separations that prevent auto or pedestrian cross-traffic on the high-speed train line in the Los Angeles to Anaheim corridor. Another chunk of the money will go to street and pedestrian crossing construction in San Bruno, in the Bay Area, and right-of-way purchase and construction grading of a heavy maintenance facility in the Central Valley. Two storage “layover” facilities in the Bay Area and Los Angeles basin will also be built with this money.