CA High Speed Rail Proposition Appears To Win Narrow Approval

"Proposition 1A would start funding construction of a high-speed rail line between the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco and Los Angeles Union Station. The trip would take about 2 1/2 hours, according to the High Speed Rail Authority, and would cost $55 one way.

The system would be the largest public works project in California history - bigger than the California Aqueduct - and would cost $32 billion for the main line between San Francisco and Los Angeles and another $10 billion to $12 billion to complete the network with extensions to San Diego, Sacramento and Riverside County. The state is banking on getting about a third of the construction budget from state taxpayers, a third from the federal government and a third from private investors.

Legislators originally placed the rail bond on the ballot in 2004, but postponed it twice at the request of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said the state couldn't incur further debt. Although he has warned that the state may face a $10 billion deficit in its month-old budget, the governor is supporting the rail bond as an important investment in the state's transportation system."