Two decades after voters approved the plan, California’s high-speed rail project now looks markedly different from the one put forward in 2008.
The project, still officially aimed at connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles with electric trains capable of reaching 220 mph, is now less a single, publicly-funded mega-project and more a phased infrastructure program built around private investment.
Proposition 1A authorized a bond issue of $9.95 billion to help establish a high-speed train service linking California’s two largest cities via the Central Valley, as well as several other smaller areas that have historically not benefited from transport infrastructure, with public and private matching funds expected to cover the rest.
Triple The Cost, Recast The Project
Today, after years of delays, a soaring price tag (which has now hit $100 billion, triple the original cost estimate) and growing backlash, state officials are increasingly recasting the project in order to speed up progress and delivery of the long-awaited transportation link. Completion is currently expected to be 2038…