Who is funding the California high speed rail?

– In the strongest show of a continued partnership, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) announced today receiving nearly $202 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to expand construction of high-speed rail by completing six grade separations.



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Amtrak and California's high-speed rail project will receive $US 402m in federal funds. Amtrak has been granted around $US 200m in federal funds for infrastructure improvements.

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Kelly acknowledges that the $8-billion goal is “aggressive and rightly so” because California is paying for 84% of the cost so far. “If the national government wants to get a national cleaner, faster electrified rail system, it has to do better than 16%. And so we're going to make that case,” he said.

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Inflation and higher construction costs have contributed to the high price tag. The project has spent $9.8 billion so far, according to Brian Kelly, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. We knew we've had a funding gap ever since the project started, Kelly said.

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The interstate highway system cost $129 billion — roughly $290 billion in current dollars — and took 35 years to complete, running from 1957 to 1992. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill enacted in 2021 has $102 billion for rail, but none of the money is set aside for high-speed rail.

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This chart displays the Breakeven Analysis on Phase 1 of the high-speed rail system assuming the horizon year of 2040, showing a 99.4 percent probability that Phase 1 would be profitable between $0 to $5.7 billion and a 0.6 percent chance of deficit between $220 million and 0.

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With one possible exception, no high-speed rail system in this country could pay for itself, and the claimed external benefits - cleaner air, energy saved, eased pressure on airports - are nonexistent.

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Highways (as well as aviation) became the focus of infrastructure spending, at the expense of rail. This trend has continued, and not the least because highways require continuous maintenance, while the US's growing population demands more lanes and roads to relieve congestion.

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High-speed rail is creating jobs and stimulating California's economy, but that's only part of the story. There are currently over 30 active construction sites spanning 119 miles from north of Fresno to north of Bakersfield, and the 3,700 foot Cedar Viaduct was completed this summer.

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According to a study by the Los Angeles Times, the most current projected fare for the train, $86 a ride, would still be one of the most inexpensive high-speed rail trips on a per-mile basis. When funding for the project was first approved, however, tickets were projected to be closer to the $50 range.

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Calvin Yang. Indonesia's high-speed railway, a delayed multibillion-dollar project backed by China, is unlikely to be profitable, said observers, citing the line's far-out station locations and the high maintenance costs expected in future.

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Amtrak estimates that it would cost $500 million per mile to turn its Northeast Corridor route into a true high-speed system. At these prices, it would cost at least $1 trillion to build a national HSR system, and likely much more. High-speed rail is the “fetch” of transportation ideas.

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Per mile, the New York project cost $2.6 billion, which is high even by U.S. standards. For example, the Purple Line in Los Angeles cost $800 million per mile.

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Implementing high-speed rail will keep billions of dollars in the U.S. economy by decreasing the amount of oil that the U.S. consumes. According to the International Association of Railways (UIC), high-speed rail is eight times more energy efficient than airplanes and four times more efficient than automobile use.

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Implementing high-speed rail (HSR) will provide Americans with more transportation choices. It will also make sure that America remains an economic engine, and meets the environmental and energy challenges of this century.

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Shanghai Maglev, China The world's fastest train can be found in Shanghai, China, where maglev (magnetic-levitation) technology allows passengers to travel from Pudong International Airport to Longyang Road metro station in just seven minutes.

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CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL WILL fundamentally transform how people move around the state, spur economic growth, create a cleaner environment, and preserve agricultural lands and natural habitat – and it has already created thousands of good-paying jobs.

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