California High-Speed Rail

Issues of track blending and electrification factor heavily in the latest environmental impact report and environmental impact statement released last week for the California High-Speed Rail project.

July 13, 2020 - California High-Speed Rail Authority

Beginning with Japan in the 1960s, more and more countries are embracing high-speed trains to streamline domestic travel. Operating at speeds often in excess of 160 mph, high-speed rail networks are now well-developed across Europe and, more recently, in China.

March 23, 2020 - Philip Rojc

Improvements to the commuter rail connections between Los Angeles and Orange counties are among the possibilities for the future of rail planning in California as uncertainty about high-speed rail continues.

October 26, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

The beleaguered plan to build a bullet train to connect Northern California and Southern California suffered a public relations setback last month when it was revealed that a boardmember was under investigation for a conflict of interest.

October 13, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

A new proposal for building high-speed rail in California would refocus funding to the urban ends of the complete, state route, by funding rail improvements first in Southern California.

August 5, 2019 - Los Angeles Times

Carlos Aguilar, Texas Central president and CEO, comments on the changes to the San Francisco-to-Anaheim project announced last month by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and why his project linking Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth will progress.

March 5, 2019 - Texas Central

The beleaguered project is still very much alive, despite some media claims to the contrary. As for the Trump administration's claim to two grants awarded to the now-$77 billion project, the state has a deadline to meet if it wants to keep them.

March 4, 2019 - Capital Public Radio

Even as prospects for high-speed trains dim in California, San Francisco's Transbay Transit Center has already spurred a development spree in the surrounding area.

March 2, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

The Trump administration has canceled a nearly $1 billion grant assigned to the California high-speed rail project and is attempting to get the state to return the $2.5 billion it has already spent on the $77 billion project.

February 21, 2019 - The New York Times

A San Francisco Chronicle editorial warns that San Francisco must find funds, intended to come from the state's ambitious rail project, to extend the Caltrain commuter rail line to the SalesForce Transit Center.

February 16, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

California Governor Gavin Newsom dropped a bombshell earlier this week by announcing that California's ambitious high-speed rail project would be pared down. He envisions the Central Valley segment as the spine of a resurgent urban region.

February 14, 2019 - California Planning & Development Report

The San Francisco-to-Los Angeles bullet train may have to be renamed the Central Valley High-Speed Train according to the announcement by the new governor in his first state-of-the-state address.

February 13, 2019 - Reuters

Plaintiffs suing the state of California over a 2016 law that allowed the High-Speed Rail Authority to tap a $9.9 billion bond measure, passed by voters a decade ago to pay for construction on "usable segments," came up short for the second time.

November 2, 2018 - The Sacramento Bee

To great fanfare, the Salesforce Transit Center opened on Saturday to thousands of visitors anxious to see the huge facility. Sunday was quieter, with the first AC Transit buses arriving on the third-floor bus deck. Train arrivals: TBD.

August 13, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

The state has less than one-third the funds necessary to build the 800-mile line connecting Northern and Southern California, depending on the cost estimate. The immediate goal is to build a 119-mile section in the Central Valley.

August 2, 2018 - The New York Times

With national media focused on individual candidates, propositions that dealt with park and water bonds, transportation spending, cap-and-trade, and rainwater may have been overlooked. Plus, a measure to increase bridge tolls in the Bay Area.

June 7, 2018 - The Sacramento Bee

Infrastructure, climate change, and natural disasters were among the themes of the California governor's final address to the legislature and public. Two of his accomplishments, high-speed rail and increasing the gas tax, face uncertain futures.

January 28, 2018 - The New York Times

Costs for the initial construction segment, 119 miles from Madera to just outside Bakersfield, jumped $2.8 billion in what the consultant called the "worst-case scenario," to $10.6 billion, or over $89 million per mile.

January 22, 2018 - Los Angeles Times

To secure needed votes to pass a vital cap-and-trade bill, Brown made a deal with California's Republican lawmakers that could cost him his legacy infrastructure project—the high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

July 25, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

While reduced from current levels, the House Appropriations Committee budgeted far more than what President Trump had proposed, but they agreed with him to eliminate the TIGER grant program and reduce transit investments, though by a lesser amount.

July 24, 2017 - The Hill