Two U.S. high speed rail players, Amtrak and the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), will combine efforts to advance a joint order of up to 62 high speed rail trainsets, with a Request for Information (RFI) possibly issued as early as this Thursday.
In what is almost assuredly just one of a continuing wave of legal moves to terminate, block or otherwise alter California’s plan to implement high speed rail, a judge has denied a request to block work filed by farming interests in the Central Valley.
The California Transportation Commission has voted to release $39.8 million in allocations toward work to advance the Caltrain Modernization Program and prepare the rail corridor, which connects San Francisco with San Jose and Gilroy, for a future “blended” system with California High Speed Rail.
Caltrain said Monday it will receive $3.2 million in federal Department of Transportation grant funds to install an advanced signal system needed to support modernized Caltrain service and the eventual addition of high speed rail, part of the Golden State’s “blended” approach to HSR.
The Obama Administration Thursday warned California officials it might rescind $3.3 billion in federal funding for the state’s proposed high speed rail network, if the state legislature does not act by next month to appropriate state funding for the project.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority Monday is expected to offer an updated estimate for construction and financing of a statewide high speed rail network. Cost estimates, which began at about $44 billion for 700 miles of right-of-way, had escalated to nearly $100 billion.
Caltrain said Thursday a regional agreement between the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and more than a half-dozen Bay Area public agencies, including Caltrain, ” will fully fund the electrification and modernization of the Caltrain system— a long-planned, critically-needed improvement that will dramatically improve the service and help ensure the long-term viability of the commuter rail system.”
Though pledging to improve current plans for the Golden State’s 700-mile high speed rail network, California High-Speed Rail Authority Chairman Dan Richard says the system should cost less than the $100 billion touted by others, including project critics.
A poll published Tuesday by the Sacramento Bee indicates declining support for California’s high speed rail proposal among the state’s citizenry, which voted to approve the attempt three years ago.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Tuesday formally awarded a $928.6 million grant to the California High-Speed Rail Authority for phase 1 ofconstruction of California high speed rail. The move comes even as Congress recently voted to terminate the Obama Administration’s overall funding emphasis on high speed rail.