State legislators last month agreed to release $ 4.2 billion earmarked for the first phase of the train, between the mid-sized towns of Bakersfield, Fresno and Mercedes. The project is also expected to benefit from more than $ 2 billion in federal two-party infrastructure law money set aside for a passenger train. Expanding the service to the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles will extend the railroad to 500 miles and increase the train’s overall price tag to $ 105 billion. That’s well above the initial estimate of about $ 40 billion that California voters approved in 2008.
More in-
“It’s not an easy task to build such a system,” said Brian Kelly, executive director of the California Highway Authority. “It’s a difficult task, but worth doing.” After early administrative mistakes threatened public support, legal challenges and securing all the land needed to build the first, relatively flat stage were also a priority. More than 200 mph – bringing temporary headaches to the Fresno Center – with new work set to begin in the remaining 52 miles currently funded. Critically, Kelly and his team also secured more than 90% of the land needed to keep construction on track.