California Bullet Train Gets $4.2 Billion Green Light For First Phase While Bigger Challenges Loom

In a breakthrough for the country's most expensive public infrastructure project, California's bullet train appears to have the funds and the legal approval to complete its first leg. How to link that initial 171-mile route through the state's Central Valley agricultural heartland to population centers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose is still a challenge.

State legislators agreed last month to release money for the first phase of the train. More than $2 billion of federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds may be used for the project. Extending service to the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles would increase the amount of track and cost as much as $105 billion. A $10 billion bond measure was approved by California voters in 2008 to help build it.

Brian Kelly is the CEO of the California High- Speed Rail Authority. It is worth doing, but it is a difficult task.

Four years ago, the state tapped Kelly, a veteran transportation official, to get things back on track. Legal challenges and securing the land for the first phase were priorities. More than 100 miles of concrete, bridgelike viaducts and other structures on which electric trains will someday run over 200 mph are being built, with new work poised to begin on the remaining 52 miles. Kelly and his team have secured more than 90 percent of the land needed to complete the project.

Karen Philbrick is the executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University. Legislative support to advance a segment of the high speed rail is very meaningful.

Critics think Philbrick sees a boondoggle. The attorney who sued to block funding for the train's first phase argued it was a waste of money. It's never going to result in a viable high-speed rail line.

It’s “the most transformative project our nation has seen in almost 75 years.”

The construction was allowed to continue after the Court of Appeals ruled against the man. The train has a degree of stability thanks to recent funding developments.

It is a big change from a few years ago, when then President Donald Trump threatened to claw back over a billion dollars from the Obama administration. President Joe Biden wants more bullet-train projects in order to cut climate-warming emissions from cars and to create jobs.

The California project estimates that it will take less than three hours to travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles. There is a pool of new federal money that California can use for future needs.

“This is an enormous waste of money.”

Kelly told Forbes that there were six different programs that they could compete in for different project elements. Over the next five years, there are six different pots.

PROPOSED STATEWIDE ALIGNMENT

As soon as next year, orders for the first trains could be placed. Both Alstom, which builds trains on the East Coast, andSiemens, which has a passenger-train factory in Sac, are likely to compete for California's business.

Several other train manufacturers are from around Asia and the world. There are no shortages of suppliers.

High-speed rail is available across Europe, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, which pioneered the technology six decades ago. The fastest train in the U.S. is the Acela service between New York and Washington, which is at a top speed of 150 mph. The Northeast Corridor between New York and Boston will be upgraded with new Alstom trains that will increase speed to 160 mph. Track improvements should go up even more.

High-speed dreams are not limited to California. Brightline, the only private passenger railroad in the U.S., will be adding a service from Miami to West Palm Beach next year. New funding plans and a revised timetable for Brightline West, a train from Las Vegas to suburban Los Angeles that may move passengers at 200 mph, are expected to be announced by the company. Brightline said it might connect to California's bullet train at a future station in Palmdale. The Texas Central Railway wants to build a high-speed line between Dallas and Houston. A Pacific Northwest line that would whisk passengers on high-speed trains from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle andVancouver, British Columbia has begun planning.

The Golden State needs billions of dollars to turn the programs into reality.

Critics of the California project have argued for years that it would have been cheaper and quicker to build a system along I-5. The Central Valley cities would be bypassed by that proposal.

He told Forbes that the comments that led to the creation of I-5 caused the Central Valley to be left out of the state's economy. There is an opportunity for the Central Valley to be included in California. People don't have a heart for anyone who thinks they can get away from the Central Valley.

Though a high-speed connection isn't likely until the late 2030s, the northern part of the first phase will tie into an existing regional train. The California High-Speed Rail Authority estimates that 50 million riders will use the system every year, generating over $3 billion in fare revenue.

“Anyone who thinks that they can bypass Fresno and the Central Valley again doesn’t have a heart for people.”

For at least another year, there will be a lot of traffic on downtown streets because of construction work in the area. While the Central Valley region is the center of the state's vast agriculture industry, its population is rising in the wake of the Covid epidemic as its relatively affordable housing and cost of living draw Californians able to work remotely. It will be even more appealing if the system links to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

He said that this has stimulated a lot of interest in terms of venture capitalists and others who have expressed an interest to come in and develop in the area. It is important that we do not allow people to buy buildings and land bank in order to wait for high-speed rail to happen.

Huge engineering challenges loom as a result of ballooning costs and funding gaffes. There are tunnels through the San Gabriel and the Pacheco Pass. The system has to be able to deal with earthquakes.

Japanese engineers who have overcome similar challenges are being tapped by California. The technical advisory panel made up of international experts will review and give input on California's design criteria.

Kelly believes that the next segment will connect to San Jose. When it comes to the next segments beyond the Central Valley, funding will be the most important factor. We will be ready to move when funding is available. It looks like the Bay Area would be the first one.

Philbrick said that the rail project has turned a corner. The lack of a clear source for the additional $80 billion needed to get the tracks to San Francisco and Los Angeles is seen by detractors as a white elephant.

"Maybe they'll sell it at a loss when they finish it, and it's been running for a few years" It will be fun for Disney.

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