Will California ever get its highspeed rail?

By: Andrew Tunnicliffe, Railway Technology

For a country that was built on the railroad, the now years-old saga of the California High-Speed Rail project continues to enthral, depress and at times amuse Americans in almost equal measure. It’s a story of claim and counterclaim, allegation, and even insult.

Almost 15 years ago Californians were promised a high-speed rail service between two of its great cities – Los Angeles (LA) and San Francisco –in just two hours and 40 minutes. It was a “moon shot” that required technological innovation, big thinking, political consensus, and a sizeable budget. Instead, it’s been mired with delay, overspending, political strife, and questionable decision-making.

Below is a timeline of the history of high-speed rail, including some of the most noteworthy moments.

1996

A high-speed rail link across California is first mooted. State Governor, Pete Wilson, established the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), with the aim of developing a proposal to present to both him and state legislatures, before giving Californians a public vote.

1996–2000

A detailed study found high- speed rail lines to be economically, environmentally and socially profitable and as such work got underway to develop a strategic plan and project proposal.

After the completion of a business plan, the CHSRA sought input from international counterparts, hiring consultancies on high-speed rail projects to peer review their proposal, including SNCF (France), DE Consult (Germany) and JARTS (Japan).

August 2005

An implementation plan – which estimates the project would take between eight to 11 years to complete –

See 'High-Speed Rail' Page 5