By Jim Christie
SAN FRANCISCO, April 2 (Reuters) – California officials on
Monday unveiled a major overhaul of a controversial plan to
build a high-speed rail system in the state, slashing the cost
by some $30 billion, to $68.4 billion, and addressing other
criticisms of the massive project.
The new plan must now receive a final blessing from the
California High Speed Rail Authority before going to the state
legislature, which has to approve the release of the first chunk
of the nearly $10 billion in rail bond funds voters approved in
2008.
The state must greenlight the spending and sell the first of
the bonds to obtain $3.3 billion in federal matching funds and
start construction in the fall as planned.
Planning for the project has been sharply criticized after
cost estimates ballooned to nearly $100 billion and the High
Speed Rail Authority failed to quell opposition from communities
that would be affected by the train lines, especially the
wealthy suburbs south of San Francisco.
Governor Jerry Brown, a staunch supporter of the project,
responded with a shake-up of the High Speed Rail Authority,
which was then charged with producing a new business plan.
Under the new proposal, much of the initial spending would
go toward upgrading commuter train tracks near San Francisco and
Los Angeles rather than building separate lines. That approach
is supported by local transit officials who see an opportunity
to improve existing services.
The so-called “blended system” design could also mean
increased travel times, though the new plan still projects a
two-hour, forty minute travel time between San Francisco and Los
Angeles.
The new plan also proposes an initial track – which would be
the first high-speed rail corridor in the United States –
linking the Central Valley town of Merced to the San Fernando
Valley at the doorstep of Los Angeles.
The federal grant money requires that construction start in
the farm-rich Central Valley, but the previous proposal to start
by connecting two small Central Valley cities was widely
ridiculed as a train to nowhere.
The plan proposes expanding the system with new tracks only
when the legislature identifies funding for the work.
The plan notably proposes using revenue raised through
California’s new carbon trading system for reducing greenhouse
gasses, which goes into effect this year and is expected to
raise billions in revenue.
(Reporting By Jim Christie; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Todd
Eastham)
