As California’s high-speed rail project faces pushback under a new presidential administration, state leaders on Monday touted its progress to eventually connect Los Angeles to the Bay Area while linking to a high-speed line between Southern California and Las Vegas.
Construction for the project has been limited to a 119-mile stretch in the Central Valley. Gov. Gavin Newsom and transportation officials said at a news conference in Kern County that the line could someday connect to a proposed 54-mile corridor from Palmdale to Victor Valley that linked to Brightline West’s privately owned high-speed train to Nevada.
The proposal from the High Desert Corridor Joint Powers Agency to offer a connection between the high-speed rail services is under environmental review.
The link would tie “together a seamless high-speed rail network that will transform transportation in our region and beyond,” said Arthur Sohikian, the agency’s executive director.
But there is still no clear timeline for when the whole project will be completed, or how the California High-Speed Rail Authority will find the tens of billions of dollars needed to finish it.
Newsom disapproved of the criticism and “cynicism” the project has faced with regard to past decisions. The project has been particularly faulted for routing the line through the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, rather than taking a more direct course through the sparsely populated west side along Interstate 5.
“We can’t go back. We just have to accept the responsibility of where we are, and that’s exactly what we are doing,” he said.
Newsom pointed to the thousands of jobs the project has provided in the Central Valley and stressed that the project is about infrastructure, not just rail. Its plan is integral to Central Valley communities’ plans to reinvigorate business districts and boost economic growth.
The rail authority’s new chief executive, Ian Choudri, said the project’s future was strong.
“The future for high-speed rail in the Southwest is bright. It’s happening, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this transformation in transportation,” he said.
The project has faced considerable uncertainty around its funding as its budget has increased by more than $100 billion from what was originally proposed to voters. That uncertainty has grown in recent months as President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks have targeted the project as a waste of federal funding and U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R- Rocklin) announced plans to introduce legislation to defund it.
Transit experts have said that other funding alternatives must be explored.
State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San José), chair of the transportation committee, plans to introduce legislation to explore public-private funding options to bridge the gap, saying in a statement Monday that he was “unwilling to let the uncertain funding connected to the renewal of state cap-and-trade and the challenges with the Trump Administration go unaddressed.”
“The way to do this is through tried-and-true public-private partnerships that have historically funded transportation projects in every major city throughout the state of California,” he said.
