Thank you for visiting the California High Speed Rail page where Californians are being railroaded and taken for a ride! The High Speed Rail (aka "Brown Streak") does not even remotely resemble Proposition 1A that the voters passed. Plus the costs have bloated to more than double the estimate. Based on the articles and court rulings, I believe that I can safely say that it is an unworkable plan yet it is still being vehemently pushed by our obtuse elected servants for their self-serving political reasons. But don't just take my word for it; do your own homework.

If you have High Speed Rail news and information, please submit it using the submission form below. Be sure to include accurate source information for independent verification. Thank you.

---

In the beginning...

Source: http://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_1A,_High-Speed_Rail_Act_%282008%29

California Proposition 1A, High-Speed Rail Act (2008)

Proposition 1A, or the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, was on the November 4, 2008 ballot in California as a legislatively-referred bond act, where it was approved. A ruling by a judge handed down in November 2013 puts the high-speed rail project that would receive funding from Proposition 1A in peril.

Proposition 1A approved the issuance of $9.95 billion of general obligation bonds. This money is supposed to partially fund an 800-mile high speed train under the supervision of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. In 2008, when voters approved the measure, the estimate for the total cost of the project was $40 billion. In 2011, the California High-Speed Rail Authority issued a new cost estimate for the entire project, saying that it will cost between $98.5 billion and $118 billion.

The train, if built, will run between San Francisco and Los Angeles, with Anaheim, California, designated as the southern terminus of the initial segment of the high-speed train system. Estimates are that the train system, if it is built, will be completed in 2030, and that it will take passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles in about 2 hours and 40 minutes. The system, if built, is expected to carry more than 120,000 riders per day at speeds of up to 200 mph.

$950 million of the 2008 Proposition 1A bond proceeds are to made available for capital projects on other passenger rail lines to provide connectivity to the high-speed train system and for capacity enhancements and safety improvements to those lines. The new debt from 1A, including interest, must be paid from the general fund.

The 7-member governing board of the California High Speed Rail Authority voted in November 2010 to build the first 65 miles of the projected 800-mile track from Madera to Corcoran. The 65-mile stretch will cost $4.15 billion. Construction will start in 2012. 

---

Proposition 1A High-Speed Rail text PDF

Proposition 1A High-Speed Rail text PDF: http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/past/2008/general/pdf-guide/suppl-complete-guide.pdf

---

March 2014


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The California High-Speed Rail Authority says it's ready to begin soliciting bids from contractors to design and build a 60-mile stretch of a proposed statewide bullet-train route from Fresno to the Tulare-Kern county line.

The authority's board will meet Tuesday in Sacramento to consider issuing its request for proposals for the project, which is estimated to cost between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. Five teams of contractors were recently deemed pre-qualified to submit bids for the work in anticipation of awarding a contract late this year.

Among the pre-qualified contracting teams is a consortium comprising Tutor Perini Corp. of Sylmar, Zachry Construction of Texas and Pasadena-based Parsons Corp., which last year won a contract worth about $1 billion for the rail system's first construction section, a 29-mile length from the northeast edge of Madera to the south end of Fresno.

June 2013

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Prop 1A suit begins and challenges California's rail project  
The High-Speed Rail Project faced its toughest challenge to date. Though the project has had waning support over the years, the public never got a shot at a revote on the High-Speed Rail project. The Prop 1A civil suit, which began Friday, may be the closest thing to it. Among other things, the suit addresses getting an answer to the basic question: “Where is the money coming from? “ The project cost has more than doubled from the time the original ballot measure passed in 2008 and is most recently estimated between $68 billion to $80 billion.

---