{"id":30521,"date":"2023-12-10T12:18:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T20:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30521"},"modified":"2023-12-10T12:20:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-10T20:20:14","slug":"biden-calls-california-high-speed-rail-the-most-ambitious-train-project-in-western-hemisphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/10\/biden-calls-california-high-speed-rail-the-most-ambitious-train-project-in-western-hemisphere\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden calls California high-speed rail the \u2018most ambitious\u2019 train project in Western Hemisphere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Michael Cabanatuan<\/a>, Danielle Echeverria<\/a> Dec 8, 2023 (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A conceptual rendering of the California High Speed Rail train. The Biden administration pledged billions for the high-speed rail project, but completing it will take billions more. California High-Speed Rail Authority<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

President Joe Biden on Friday touted the billions of dollars his administration recently committed to passenger rail projects, including a little more than $3 billion for California\u2019s slow-moving high-speed rail project in the San Joaquin Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two biggest projects \u2014 and recipients of the federal funding \u2014 are both in California: the California High Speed Rail project between San Francisco and Los Angeles and Anaheim, and a largely private project called Brightline West between Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County on the outskirts of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $12 billion project is projected to open before the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in Las Vegas, Biden hailed the California high-speed rail project as \u201cthe most ambitious rail project in the Western Hemisphere\u201d and boasted that it would offer weary travelers the chance to ride from Southern California to the Bay Area in three hours versus the current six- to eight-hour drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden said he\u2019s long supported the California project \u2014 even restoring cuts implemented during the Trump administration \u2014 and said he would continue his backing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFolks, we\u2019re just getting started now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday morning, Brian Kelly, the CEO of the High-Speed Rail Authority, said that the $3 billion federal investment, which will go toward purchasing six electric trains and completing construction in the Central Valley, will keep the project on schedule. The authority hopes to begin service between Bakersfield and Merced between 2030 and 2032.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most construction so far has been focused in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties where at least 10 major viaducts, bridges and overpasses and underpasses have been constructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt could not be done without this investment,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cIt\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Central Valley Rep. Jim Costa and former California Gov. Jerry Brown each emphasized how the project is necessary not only to reach California\u2019s climate goals, but to catch California \u2014 and the rest of the U.S. \u2014 up with places such as Europe and Asia, where high-speed rails are widespread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe hear that we\u2019re going to compete with China. Well, China has 20,000 miles of high-speed rail,\u201d Brown said. \u201cSo we\u2019ve got to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pelosi mentioned a trip to China during which she took a high-speed rail from Beijing to Tianjin \u2014 roughly the same distance as San Francisco to Fresno \u2014 in just under half an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to be on the forefront as well,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd everyone in our country is not attuned to that, but I hope that by example California will show them the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Brown added that the billions won\u2019t be enough to achieve the ultimate goal \u2014 linking the Central Valley to economic centers like the Bay Area and Los Angeles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to spend billions more. That\u2019s what it takes,\u201d he said. \u201cYou want to be No. 1 in the world? You gotta spend big bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But getting sustained funding as costs have ballooned from the original $33 billion estimate \u2014 the entire project is now expected to cost more than $100 billion \u2014 has proven difficult as questions arise about the project\u2019s viability. Lawmakers said Friday that more funding at the federal level will be needed to get the project to the finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustained federal funding would \u201cnot only complete California\u2019s high-speed rail dreams and visions, but really will lead as an example for a network across the country,\u201d Costa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s going to take,\u201d he said. \u201cThat federal partner on the long-term just as we have under the federal highway system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The $3 billion investment, he said, was a \u201cfirst step\u201d in that goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about the project\u2019s past struggles and whether this new round of funding will have oversight, Kelly said the rail authority has made an effort to \u201cturn the management around and move forward\u201d and regularly reports its progress to the inspector general, the California Legislature and the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t been silent or quiet about the fact that the project got off to a tough start,\u201d he said. \u201cThe reason we\u2019re performing better is because we made important steps to manage risk, govern the project and be very transparent about what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown added that the federal funding, despite the project\u2019s many obstacles, was \u201ca big vote of confidence\u201d from the president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a question of can America make it or not?\u201d he said. \u201cI say we can, and this project is going to lead us on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going away,\u201d Pelosi added. \u201cThis is going to happen. \u2026 We have to have high-speed rail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the two big high-speed rail projects, Biden\u2019s passenger rail plan also includes up to $500,000 each to plan for new or expanded rail service on the Capitol Corridor route between San Jose and Auburn with extensions to San Francisco, Novato, Salinas and Reno; the Central Coast Corridor with more frequent service between San Jose and San Luis Obispo and possible service to Santa Cruz and Watsonville, and rail service between Sacramento, Chico and Redding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the nation, other big rail projects due to receive funding include upgrades to existing rail routes to better connect Northern Virginia and the Southeast with the Northeast Corridor; expand and increase service between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; create a \u201chigher speed\u201d connection between Raleigh and Richmond, Va.; invest in Chicago Union Station improvements; and improved service in Maine, Montana and Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reach Michael Cabanatuan: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com<\/a>; Twitter: @ctuan. Reach Danielle Echeverria: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 8, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Michael Cabanatuan<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Cabanatuan is a general assignment and breaking news reporter who\u2019s covered everything from wildfires and sports fans to protests and COVID masking requirements. He\u2019s also written extensively about transportation and covered Contra Costa County for The Chronicle. He\u2019s ridden high-speed trains in Japan, walked in the Transbay Tube, been tear-gassed in Oakland and exposed to nude protesters in the Castro. Cabanatuan worked at the Paradise Post (long before anyone heard of the town), the former West County Times (in Richmond) and the Modesto Bee before joining The Chronicle. He is a two-time graduate of UC Berkeley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He can be reached at mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Danielle Echeverria<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danielle Echeverria is a reporter for The Chronicle\u2019s Engagement and Breaking News team. She recently completed her Master’s degree in journalism at Stanford University, where she won the Nicholas Roosevelt Environmental Journalism Award for her reporting and covered agriculture, climate change and worker safety. She previously interned The Chronicle on the Business desk, as well as at Big Local News, focusing on data journalism. She is originally from Bakersfield, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She can be reached at\u00a0danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Cabanatuan, Danielle Echeverria Dec 8, 2023 (SFChronicle.com) President Joe Biden on Friday touted the billions of dollars his administration recently committed to passenger rail projects, including a little more than $3 billion for California\u2019s slow-moving high-speed rail project in the San Joaquin Valley. The two biggest projects \u2014 and recipients… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1585],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30521"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30521"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30526,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30521\/revisions\/30526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}