#CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL ROUTE HOW TO#

Thanks to the deadly combination of California’s strict environmental laws, under which any individual or organization may file a lawsuit saying a project is violating the California Environmental Quality Act, and lots of very ticked-off people, the bullet train has been a magnet for litigation.Ĭalifornia Gov. An unreleased Federal Rail Administration risk analysis from earlier 2017 said the project was running significantly over budget and behind schedule, according to the Los Angeles Times. The fact that the train’s projected cost has mushroomed from approximately $40 billion when voters first approved the project in 2008 to about $64 billion in 2016 means a lot of people feel ripped off.ĭoubly so for the fact that construction seems to be progressing at a painstakingly slow rate. The California High-Speed Rail project is arguably state’s most controversial big public-infrastructure project. Rendering courtesy of California High Speed Rail I’ve heard it’s not going well.

Rendering of the California High-Speed Rail project in San Jose. And the Transbay Terminal is being built with the expectation (err, legal mandate) that the bullet train will one day arrive, though exactly how and when is one of the bullet train’s (many) unresolved sticking points.

#CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL ROUTE HOW TO#

Los Angeles and Anaheim are moving forward upgrades to their one-day high-speed rail stations, and Caltrans is close to releasing its assessment of how to best integrate the HSR into the state’s transportation grid.Ĭloser to home, Caltrain’s electrification upgrade is being built with the expectation that the corridor will one day serve the HSR. Notably, Fresno has rezoned the area around the city’s future station to accommodate buildings up to 15-stories tall, and has begun work on a pair of Bus Rapid Transit lines to connect the city’s northern and eastern flanks. Individual cities across California have started preparing for HSR’s arrival. Video Shows the High-Speed Rail is Actually Happening Identify these BART stations win glory The 33: San Francisco’s most beautiful bus ride The second leg, expected to open in 2029, will build out tracks from San Jose to San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal, including a Peninsula stop in Millbrae and south from Bakersfield to Anaheim, with stops in Palmdale, Downtown Los Angeles, and at Burbank Airport. Stops along this leg will include San Jose, Gilroy, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Tulare County, and Bakersfield. The first, connecting San Jose to the Central Valley, is scheduled to begin passenger service in 2025. With an anticipated cruising speed of 220 mph, the train is intended to provide Californians with a fast and convenient option to travel throughout the Golden State without relying on their cars or short-haul airplane flights. Tracking a project of this magnitude is, of course, a bit of a challenge, which is why we’ve put together this handy explainer: What exactly is California trying to build?Īs outlined in the “Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century,” which California voters passed 53 percent to 47 percent in 2008, the HSR project will build approximately 800 miles of track up and down the state, connecting together most of the state's large cities with up to 24 different stations. And cities all across California are incorporating the train into their own long-term regional transportation plans. Passenger service between San Jose and Bakersfield is expected as soon as 2025. As it copes with a persistent volley of antagonistic litigation, an initial cost of $64 billion-which, as of March 2018, has ballooned to $77 billion-and even political challenges enabled by the Trump administration, the bullet train’s boosters and builders have a challenge before them.ĭespite the controversy, construction activity for HSR is well under way in many parts of the state. However, as you might have heard, the train is in trouble.

Threading the state together from San Francisco down to Orange County, Phase 1 of the California High Speed Rail (HSR) project promises a cheap two-hour-and-40-minute ride between San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal and LA’s Union Station. If construction plays out on schedule (and funds don’t dry up), the train’s first phase should be complete by 2029. After voters approved a 2008 ballot proposition that kicked off one of the nation’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects, the state’s High Speed Rail Authority has been hard at work attempting to will the conflict-ridden yet positively utopian train into existence. You’ve probably heard that California is trying to build its own shiny and speedy bullet train.

California high speed rail route