Authority Picks High-Speed Rail Starting Point

SACRAMENTO-The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board recently voted to begin construction of the system connecting Los Angeles to the Bay Area in the heart of the state’s Central Valley, choosing an option that makes the best use of available funding and lays the foundation for expanding the track both north and south. “We are building a statewide system. We’re in the business of connecting major metropolitan centers across our state, and we won’t have a true high-speed rail system until we tie every part of this state together,” says Authority vice chair Tom Umberg. “It’s not one town or one region versus another; it’s about connecting one region to another. ‘’

The decision followed a mandate from the Federal Railroad Administration in October that directed that all federal funding awarded to the project so far must be dedicated to a single portion of the project in the Central Valley. Authority staff considered that direction, other requirements of state and federal law and how to create the core of a statewide system when they recommended beginning with a 65-mile stretch of track in the Central Valley. It would start north of Fresno near Madera, include the construction of two new stations—one in downtown Fresno and the other east of Hanford—and continue to Corcoran, north of Bakersfield.