The California High Speed Rail Authority has officially released an updated plan that makes big changes to first section of the bullet train.
The plan confirms that the Authority wants to change the first functional section of track to run from Bakersfield to San Jose. The original plan was for the first working segment of track to run from the Central Valley to Burbank outside LA.
The report leaked on Wednesday, but Thursday evening the Rail Authority released an official version of the document confirming the route change.
In a press release, Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales said:
“This Draft Business Plan presents a clear path forward within available funding to deliver the system as approved by California voters in 2008. By constructing the line between the Silicon Valley and the Central Valley, while also making significant investments in Southern California’s passenger rail systems, high-speed rail service will become a reality in this state in the next 10 years at a lower cost than previously estimated.”
The Authority’s draft plan lists three reasons for the change.
First, they believe that they can have service running sooner, linking the Central Valley to Silicon Valley by 2025 and therefore attract private investment interest.
Second, the need to partner to local agencies to improve the existing rail infrastructure in L.A. before building the high speed line that will eventually connect with it.
And third, waiting to begin construction on southern parts of the line until all funding is secure and environment reviews complete. For example, the Authority is still undergoing review and public input about where to put the Bakersfield line and station. It is also facing resistance from some communities in Southern California.
Skeptics have also speculated that engineering challenges of tunneling through the Tehachapi and San Gabriel Mountains are contributing to the decision to focus on the northern track.
The rail Authority also claims that the total cost of the project is now down to $64-billion from its previously estimated cost of nearly $68-billion.
The proposed change, coupled with existing cost run-ups and delays, have critics eager to slam the entire project.
Assembly member Jim Patterson a Republican from Fresno, called the project a ‘shell game’ that has grown well beyond what voters were sold in 2008.
“The experts had been warning the authority that this was going to be difficult to do on time and on budget. And this is a tacit admission that by going north they can lay some track in a desperate attempt to get something going,” Patterson said, “So what is the solution? It is very simple. This Authority and the Governor needs to admit that there are significant problems here and go back to the voters and ask for permission to build and fund this variation of the High Speed Rail plan.”
Senator Andy Vidak a Republican from Hanford also released a statement saying:
“No surprise here. The system design is fatally flawed, the alleged private funding is non-existent, the waste and cost escalations are rampant. The proposed route changes more often than the seasons. Hopefully the next governor will see this project for the albatross it is and join the rest of us in running the High-Speed Rail Authority out of town on a rail.”
However, the potential change in the destinations for the first section of track was hailed by some in the Bay Area who see it as a win for public transportation.
Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, told the San Jose Mercury News:
“The unemployment rate in the Central Valley is twice the amount as the rest of California, and this is going to provide such opportunities for workers throughout the Central Valley and then a way for travelers to get from the Central Valley to jobs in Silicon Valley."
The plan will be open for public comment for the next 60 days.
