High-speed rail plans for California?

Bullet Train

The cash for clunkers scheme may have ended in the US, but those who may have missed out in California in buying a new car, are still set to benefit from the government. Thanks to the voters, California is set to receive a large portion of the federal transportation dollars which are being handed out under a stimulus programme for bullet trains.

In November 2008, voters passed a bond measure, which approved $9.95 billion to fund a high-speed train line from San Diego to Sacramento. On top of this, a few months later, as part of the stimulus package, Congress dedicated $8 billion to pay for high-speed rail projects across the country.

California is the only state where voters have already approved funding for a bullet train, as it has the most state-of-the-art proposal, with the most planning work completed, in the nation. Because the funding is meant to stimulate the economy as quickly as possible, officials at the Federal Railroad Administration are expected to give priority to applicants that can start taking action straight away. This meant when the California High-Speed Rail Authority submitted its application on Friday, it had a strong arguments on its side.

The authorities are going to need all the money they can get with their ambitious plans, as a bullet train is estimated to cost $40 billion, or possibly more than that. State bonds are covering at most a quarter of the cost, so planners are relying on federal money and private capital for the rest - and so far, no private investors have materialized. The authority is applying for $4.7 billion of the $8-billion federal pot, yet there will be heavy political pressure to spread the money across a broad geographical region rather than giving so much to a single state. Even so, there are strong reasons to award California an out-sized share.

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