California High Speed Rail Thread

[Eightball]

Those ridership gains just bolster the arguments about how remarkably successful CAHSR will be.

[Swede]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Two busy Amtrak train lines set ridership records in California
By Dan Weikel
November 21, 2013
LA Times
"Rail officials announced Thursday that the two lines, which are funded by Caltrans, carried almost 3.93 million passengers for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, 2013. That represents an increase of more than 110,000 riders from the year before."
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#ixzz2lOO8RKjd

Unless my math is off, that's an increase of about 3%. Not bad!

Originally Posted by Eightball

Those ridership gains just bolster the arguments about how remarkably successful CAHSR will be.

Yeah, and makes the case stronger for the need for the increase in capacity CAHSR will bring.

[Leo the Dog]

Judge stops bullet train in its tracks
By Juliet Williams, Associated Press 2:09 P.M.NOV. 25, 2013


A Sacramento judge on Monday tore up California's funding plans for its bullet train project in separate orders that could force the state to spend months or years redrawing its plans for the $68 billion rail line.

Judge Michael Kenny rejected a request from the California High-Speed Rail Authority to sell $8 billion of the $10 billion in bonds approved by voters in 2008, saying there was no evidence it was "necessary and desirable" to start selling the bonds when a committee of state officials met last March.

He said the committee was supposed to act as "the ultimate 'keeper of the checkbook'" for taxpayers, but instead relied on a request from the high-speed rail authority to start selling bonds as sufficient evidence to proceed.

In a separate lawsuit, Kenny ordered the rail authority to redo its $68 billion funding plan before continuing construction, a process that could take months or years. He had previously ruled that the authority abused its discretion by approving a funding plan that did not comply with the requirements of the law. The judge said the state failed to identify "sources of funds that were more than merely theoretically possible."

Proposition 1A, which voters approved in 2008, required the rail authority to specify the source of the funding for the first operable segment of the high-speed rail line — a 300 mile stretch — and have all the necessary environmental clearances in place. Kenny had said the agency did not comply with either mandate in approving the start of construction from Madera to Fresno, about 30 miles.

"The court said, look, you've only got 28 miles with completed environmental clearances. I order that you have to have 300 miles of environmental clearances," said Michael Brady, an attorney for Central Valley residents who had sued to halt the project. "It's taken them 5 years to do 28 miles, so how long will it take them to do 300 miles?"

Still, Kenny stopped short of blocking the project altogether, and rail authority officials characterized Monday's rulings as a setback rather than a fatal blow.

"Like all transformative projects, we understand that there will be many challenges that will be addressed as we go forward in building the nation's first high-speed rail system," authority board Chairman Dan Richard said in a written statement....

Source: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...t-train-bonds/

[phoenixboi08]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

Source: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...t-train-bonds/

So, essentially, they have to reconfigure their financing to account for all of the funds for the entire 300+mi rather than the initial segment, since Proposition 1A specifically mandates the full system?

I'm having trouble understanding what the actual ruling is here. That is to say, he didn't rule on whether the project would be cancelled or not, but upon whether the budget abided by what voters had voted for in 2008?

Originally Posted by High-speed rail funding takes a big hit from Sacramento judge

Source: The Fresno Bee

Kenny's rulings, however, do not bar the state from selling the bonds. Nor did he order the rail authority to rescind its approval of contracts for work on the first 29-mile construction stretch from northeast Madera to the south edge of Fresno or block the state from spending federal stimulus or transportation money on the project.

What I gather from these two rulings are that 1) they can't currently use the bonds appropriated for the project under Prop 1A and 2) before they are able to, they'll first need to "certify completion of all of the environmental clearances needed for its 'initial operating segment'". Though, the caveat here is that... "the judge did not invalidate the bonds, he did not invalidate any of the contracts, and he refused to approve a restraining order against the project" (Rod Diridon Sr.).

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/11/25/...#storylink=cpy

By all effects, I'm still struggling to see how this ruling itself does anything to "cancel" the project. Really, what the implication is is that they won't be able to make use of the Federal funds as it requires matching funds from the State, which the authority can't access at the moment under the current ruling.

This will be interesting to watch going forward.

[202_Cyclist]

State seeks to condemn first Fresno sites for high speed rail project

Fresno Bee
Dec. 8, 2013
By Tim Sheehan

http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/12/08/...sites-for.html

[Cirrus]

Recent posts discussing the merits of this project were moved to the appropriate thread.

[twoNeurons]

A few videos from the Japan California HSR Consortium:

• Video Link

Maintenance of E6 at Akita:

• Video Link

Boarding at Morioka, in-train amenities, and in-cab footage:

• Video Link[/QUOTE]

[Busy Bee]

IF that girl was ugly I'd be thinking this group has no credibility at all.

[202_Cyclist]

Gov. Brown wants to tap cap-and-trade funds for bullet train

By Ralph Vartabedian and Chris Megerian
January 7, 2014, 10:06 p.m.
LA Times

"Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to provide urgently needed new funding for California's bullet train project from corporate fees on greenhouse gases melds two of his political passions: building the nation's first, truly high-speed rail system and putting the state at the forefront of the battle against global warming.

The bullet train system suffered a series of legal blows last year that blocked $9 billion in state funding, sending Brown and his allies on a search for a new source of funds. This week, Brown plans to announce a new strategy to keep the project moving: dipping into hundreds of millions of dollars in fees collected from businesses whose carbon dioxide emissions exceed state limits.

But he may be trading one set of legal and political problems for another.."

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-b...#axzz2q10E71J4

[202_Cyclist]

Amtrak, California authority issue combined RFP for high-speed trains

Progressive Railroading
Jan. 27, 2014

"Amtrak and the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) have issued a request for proposals to build high-speed trainsets for use on the Northeast Corridor and California's new high-speed rail system, officials from both organizations announced on Friday.

Amtrak is seeking up to 28 high-speed trainsets, each with 400 to 450 seats, which can meet or exceed current Acela Express trip-times on the existing Northeast Corridor (NEC) infrastructure between Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. The authority is seeking an initial order of 15 trainsets with a minimum of 450 seats that can meet its planned trip-time requirements for high-speed service from the San Francisco area to Los Angeles, Amtrak and CHSRA officials said in a press release.

"Combing orders between Amtrak and the California High-Speed Rail Authority will generate economies of scale and make it more attractive for high-speed rail manufacturers to build factories here and in the USA, bringing new high-quality jobs and creating ripple effects throughout our domestic supply chain," Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo said in a prepared statement..."

http://www.progressiverailroading.co...-trains--39223

[edluva]

California bullet train project wins major court victory

In a victory for California's bullet train project, an appellate court Thursday overturned a lower court ruling that found the state had failed to comply with the law in developing a funding plan for the $68-billion line between Los Angeles and San Francisco..

The decision lifts a significant cloud that hung over the California High-Speed Rail Authority's ability to move the project ahead over the next several years, when it plans to start construction of a 130-mile segment of track in the Central Valley and accelerate planning on a 40-mile section from Burbank to Palmdale.

...The appellate court decision, which does not become final for 30 days, sends the matter back to Superior Court and orders Kenny to enter a judgment that allows the authority to issue the rail bonds. The ruling could help free up billions of dollars in state funding for the project, but the rail authority already is in a better financial position than when Kenny issued his initial ruling last November.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0...801-story.html

After a long period of uncertainty, looks like momentum is starting to swing in favor of HSR. This is a really big victory for CA, but it appears to be one hurdle out of multiple hurdles the state must clear.

This good news comes on the heels of CAHSR getting a committed and steady stream of money from cap and trade funds last week, prompting private HSR contractors from France and Spain to express interest in investing in CAHSR

California bullet train: Interest from private investors revives shaky funding plan

Last week, demolition began in Fresno to clear the way for the first stretch of track. More significantly, private investors across the country and abroad are expressing new interest in bankrolling part of the $68 billion project.

The lawsuits that have stymied the plan aren't yet resolved, but a budget agreement brokered by Gov. Jerry Brown that guarantees the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles rail line its first funding stream -- one that leading economists say could reach about three quarters of a billion dollars annually -- has emerged as a "game changer," high-speed rail experts say.

Inking a deal that will send the project hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees collected from polluters is the signal the private sector was waiting for, according to formal letters of interest the state received last month. With only a fraction of the project's funding in hand, the state needs private investment for about one-third of the final price tag to have any hope of completing the rail line.

"The new funding gives us confidence that as political leanings and priorities change, it won't be easy for the government to back out of its end of the deal," said Stephen Polechronis, senior vice president of Los Angeles-based AECOM, one of the world's largest engineering and construction firms. "We feel we have a partner now."

To be sure, the bullet train project is hardly home free. Questions about the state's ability to obtain more construction funding -- especially from a skeptical Congress, avoid expensive construction delays and operate the rail line without heavy taxpayer subsidies still linger.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the incoming House majority leader from Bakersfield, said in an interview last week that he vows to do what he can to kill the project. "If Sacramento looks to Washington to pay for the train, that will never happen," he told the New York Times.

Before now, there's been virtually no interest from private companies because there was no ongoing government commitment to fund the line.

It's too soon to know what kinds of investments the authority will seek to leverage with its new state funding. The state could ask private companies to give loans that must be paid back with interest, or it may seek financial support from companies that could design, build, operate and maintain portions of the rail line, like the new Burbank-to-Palmdale segment the authority's board is set to consider next month. Those kinds of public-private partnerships are typical in Europe and Japan, where bullet trains are commonplace.
......

It's difficult to predict how much the new state funding will grow as California's cap-and-trade program kicks into gear, but some economists say the project will get another $4 billion through 2020, and the Legislative Analyst's Office forecasts it could climb close to $2 billion annually.

The value of stable, ongoing sources of funding for huge infrastructure projects like the bullet train is huge, said Lou Thompson, a veteran rail expert and consultant who chairs an independent group created by the Legislature to evaluate high-speed rail funding plans.
..... [/I]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci...estors-revives

[phoenixboi08]

It also looks like the last big hurdle is out of the way. We may just finally see structural work begin sometime by the end of the summer.

Originally Posted by San Jose Mercury News; Jessica Calefati

In a decision the appellate court judges call "quite narrow," they found the rail authority's finance committee acted properly last year when it voted to approve the issuance of bonds and called Kinney's scrutiny of the committee's work "highly unusual." The state had asked for pre-approval from the Superior Court to sell the bonds to avoid any future legal challenges.

The appellate judges also refused to force the Legislature to rescind and redo a bullet train funding plan it approved several years ago that was at the heart of the opposition's case for killing the project.

[202_Cyclist]

Central Valley bullet train construction gets federal go-ahead

By Dan Weikel
LA Times
Aug. 12, 2013

"Federal officials on Tuesday cleared the way for construction of a major segment of the California bullet train project: 114 miles of track from Fresno to Bakersfield.

After months of reviewing the proposed route and related environmental studies, the Surface Transportation Board conditionally approved the longest section of the Central Valley alignment, exempting it from further board oversight.

"This is the final clearance for construction," said Lisa Marie Alley, a spokeswoman for the California High Speed Rail Authority. "There is nothing else the Surface Transportation Board needs to do..."

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...812-story.html

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Definitely picking up steam!

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Definitely picking up steam!

Agreed! There is this approval, the state funding plan, the dismissal of the lawsuit, etc...

[dleung]

It's probably been posted already, but can someone repost a map of the proposed corridor alignment within LA? Thanks

[edluva]

... so when do they break ground. like really break ground?

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by edluva

... so when do they break ground. like really break ground?

Yes, they already break ground. They will begin construction. Hopefully they will be completion sometime in 2018 or so.

[202_Cyclist]

This shows how ridiculous the 'train to nowhere' Republican partisan rhetoric is. One of the reasons why the Central Valley was chosen first is that construction and land costs to build high speed rail are significantly less in the Central Valley than the coastal areas of the state.

California selects contractors for next phase of bullet train route

By RALPH VARTABEDIAN
LA Times
Dec. 11, 2014

"The state high-speed rail authority took another key step Thursday in building the initial segments of the bullet train system between Los Angeles and San Francisco, saying it had preliminarily selected a team of contractors for another 65 miles of the route through the Central Valley.

While the agency continues to move ahead with planning, contracts, legal settlements and political agreements, it has yet to start heavy construction in Fresno, which was expected about two years ago. But officials have vowed that the late start will not delay their completion dates in 2017 and 2018 for about 130 miles of rail line from Madera to Bakersfield.

The team for the 65-mile section, led by Dragados USA, a subsidiary of a Spanish construction firm, submitted the lowest of three bids for the new contract and was judged as having the highest technical competence score. It submitted a bid of $1.23 billion, well below the $1.74 billion submitted by the team led by Sylmar-based Tutor Perini and the $2.07 billion by the team led by Samsung E&C Americas, a Los Angeles-based unit of a South Korean conglomerate.

The low bid came in well under the state estimate of $1.5 billion to $2 billion for the work. Jeff Morales, chief executive of the rail agency, credited the low prices to strong competition and said Thursday's decision is a "significant milestone" in the project..."

http://www.latimes.com/local/califor...212-story.html

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

That is a significant savings. Lets get this going asap!