The California High-Speed Rail Authority has released a new business plan for the proposed 832 km Phase 1 section of the network to connect San Francisco with Anaheim and Los Angeles.
The Authority says the new draft plan lays the foundations for an ‘economically viable high speed rail system that will create 100,000 jobs in the next five years, and is expected to generate another 1 million jobs moving forward’.
The new business plan describes a phased approach to construction that will ‘allow the Authority to adapt to changing financial conditions as it moves forward, segment by segment’.
The plan also updates cost estimates, ridership figures and funding expectations to reflect current economic realities.
The Authority has increased its projection for the total capital cost of the project from the initial $43bn to $98·5bn.
The completion date of Phase 1 has also been pushed back to 2033 from 2020.
“We have carefully constructed a business plan that is mindful of the economic and budgetary constraints facing both the state and the nation,” said Authority Board Chairman Thomas J. Umberg.
“It will deliver to California and Californians a cost-effective, efficient, and sensible alternative to more highways and increased airport congestion.”
As the state’s population grows from 38 million people today to 60 million people by mid-century, it is estimated that without high speed rail California will need as much as $171 billion to meet its transportation needs.
Construction will begin next year with a 130-mile segment stretching from just north of Bakersfield to just south of Merced.
The funding for this piece, which will serve as the ‘backbone’ of the system, has already been identified through federal funds and the voter-approved Proposition 1A.
Board members, including new gubernatorial appointees Dan Richard and Mike Rossi, brought a seasoned business perspective to developing the plan, which outlines the future of the largest infrastructure project underway in the United States.
“Our role was to incorporate a business perspective into the plan to prove that it is financially viable,” Richard said.
“What we present today is the culmination of a lot of sweat and hard work to ensure that taxpayers are getting the best bang for the buck.”
“After conducting an in-depth analysis I am convinced that this is an open and balanced business plan,” said Rossi.
“This is a current, realistic and transparent plan and identifies the funds and financing necessary to implement high-speed rail in California.”
Each segment of the construction project will have its own value and independent utility, and depending upon the availability of funding, each segment will complement the previous one while augmenting existing local and regional rail networks in a ‘cooperative and coordinated fashion’.
Regional rail systems in Los Angeles and San Francisco have been receptive to the idea of blending existing services with the new system.
California’s high speed rail system will initially be built with public sector funds and when the system is operational ridership will drive revenues that, in turn, will attract further private-sector investment.
The public will have 60 days to comment and help shape the final plan, which will be completed and provided to the Legislature in January 2012.
