The highly-anticipated California High-Speed Rail system, which boasts train rides between San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours, has reached another milestone. The bullet train is one step closer to reality after the California High-Speed Rail Authority approved both the final Environmental Impact Report and the 43-mile route section between San Francisco and San Jose.
As a result, 420 of the project’s 500 total miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles have environmental clearance. We also have an official snapshot of the eventual route planned from Salesforce Transit Center, to Millbrae-SFO, to San Jose Diridon Station.
“With environmental studies completed in Northern California, we are closer than ever to realizing a first in the nation, statewide high-speed rail system,” said Authority Chairman Tom Richards.
“We look forward to working with all of our regional partners and stakeholders in developing modern, sustainable transportation infrastructure, completing our work in the Central Valley and connecting to the Bay Area as soon as possible.”
With the new approval, the SF-to-San Jose section is now “shovel ready” as soon as funding becomes available. Construction has already begun along 119 miles of the route in California’s Central Valley, a stretch which is expected to become operational by 2028. The stretch from San Francisco to Los Angeles is projected for completion by 2033.
The bullet train would travel up to 220 miles an hour, making the journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles in under 3 hours. Additional expansions are projected north as far as Sacramento and south as far as San Diego, with up to 24 stations along nearly 800 miles. The project has been estimated to cost between $63 billion to $98 billion. You can learn more about the facts and figures here.
Visit the California High-Speed Rail Authority website to keep up with California’s advances in public transportation for the future.
Featured image: Courtesy of California High Speed Rail