New Federal Boost For High-Speed Rail

California will receive an additional $902 million for high-speed and other intercity rail projects - including $715 million in the San Joaquin Valley and $16 million on the Peninsula, federal officials said Monday.
The news, conveyed to members of Congress by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is not expected to be officially released until Thursday, when further details will also be revealed.
Rachel Wall, a spokeswoman for the California High-Speed Rail Authority, declined to comment on the funding or elaborate on the projects selected until the official announcement.
"But I am sure it will be part of the criteria the board would use to determine where construction of the system will begin," she said.
The authority board is scheduled to decide this year which segment - San Francisco to San Jose, Merced to Fresno, Fresno to Bakersfield or Los Angeles to Anaheim - will be built first. Earlier this year, federal officials announced that California would receive $2.25 billion for high-speed rail. Aside from $400 million devoted for the Transbay Transit Center, federal officials want that first allotment of money to focus on a single segment.
The $902 million revealed Monday will be split among 18 projects, but the bulk of the money will go to high-speed rail in the San Joaquin Valley. No further details were given. Some $100 million will go for acquisition of locomotives and rail cars, but it is not clear if those will be designated for high-speed rail.
The next largest piece of new funding - $25 million - is set aside for adding an advanced train control system in San Diego County, which is not part of the planned first phase of the $43 billion high-speed rail line from San Francisco to Anaheim scheduled to open in 2020. The San Francisco to San Jose high-speed rail segment is slated to receive $16 million.
A number of other allotments are either for existing intercity rail lines or for rail planning studies. In addition to the train control system, San Diego County was awarded $21 million for three rail improvement projects, including adding a second track in some locations and making signal improvements.
Earlier this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a demonstration project that would upgrade the Los Angeles to San Diego section of the Pacific Surfliner rail line to run trains at higher speeds but still far slower than the 220 mph that high-speed trains would travel. The governor said the faster trains would demonstrate the promise of high-speed rail and build enthusiasm for the system.
The awards Monday - part of a $2.25 billion federal program - also include $3.4 million for rail plans in four California corridors and $500,000 to plan for multistate high-speed trains into Nevada and Arizona.
Some critics of the Obama administration criticized the nature and timing of the funding revealed Monday as a political ploy to gain support for Democratic candidates in next week's midterm elections.


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