By Ricardo Cano Dec 5, 2023 (SFChronicle.com)
California’s high-speed rail project is getting a $3 billion windfall from the federal government that will go toward finishing construction of the bullet train’s 119-mile Central Valley line from Bakersfield to Merced.
Another $3 billion federal grant was also awarded to Brightline West, the private high-speed railroad that will link Los Angeles and Las Vegas via bullet trains running at speeds of up to 186 mph. The $12 billion rail project, which launched in 2019, is on track to open in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The federal grants, announced Thursday by House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, come from the Biden administration’s 2022 infrastructure law that includes $108 billion for transit capital projects, including high-speed rail. The unprecedented tranche of federal funds marks a significant milestone for California’s high-speed rail ambitions.
The billions in federal money coming to the state’s High-Speed Rail Authority will pay for building the rail system’s station in Fresno as well as a second track from Fresno to Madera. The money will also go toward the procurement of six electric trains.
“With this new $3.07 billion in federal funding, we take an important leap closer to making high-speed rail a reality in California,” Pelosi said in a statement. “An electrified high-speed rail network will dramatically improve the quality of life in the Central Valley and up and down California. These bullet trains will make travel quicker and easier, bring housing closer, (and) create new jobs and economic opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.”
The state’s high-speed rail project, which faces uncertainty over how it will pay for its planned extensions to San Francisco and Los Angeles, has benefited greatly from the infrastructure law. In September, the High-Speed Rail Authority was awarded a $202 million grant for the rail system’s construction in Kern County.
Initially planned for a 2020 launch, the high-speed rail’s Central Valley segment from Bakersfield to Merced is scheduled to open between 2030 and 2033, with five stations.
Reach Ricardo Cano: ricardo.cano@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @ByRicardoCano
Dec 5, 2023
By Ricardo Cano
Ricardo Cano covers transportation for The San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining The Chronicle in 2021, he covered K-12 education at CalMatters based in Sacramento and at The Arizona Republic in Phoenix as the newspaper’s education reporter. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Fresno State.
He can be reached at ricardo.cano@sfchronicle.com.
