Video produced by NC3D for the California Association for High-Speed Trains
by Mark Miller
Smart Nation
On November 4, 2008, the voters of California will decide on the “Safe, Reliable High Speed Passenger Train for the 21st Century Bond Act.” The act proposes that the state of California disburse $9.95 billion to the High-Speed Rail Authority for planning and construction of the initial segment of a rail system extending from Anaheim to San Francisco. For comparison, the state-mandated High-Speed Rail Authority estimates the total cost of planning and construction of the complete 700 mile, 30 station system to be $33 billion. Under the referendum proposal, only planning and construction costs will be subsidized while operating and maintenance costs will be sustained from passenger fares. The act stipulates that the railway be in operation by 2020.
In 1996, the state of California established the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), charged with designing, building, and operating a “bullet train” system similar to those already in place in Japan and Europe. The proposed system would run from San Diego to Sacramento and San Francisco, by way of Escondido, Temecula, Ontario, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, and Stockton. The electrically-powered trains would be able to operate at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour.
Proposed route of California High Speed Rail Network.
Image source: Association for California High-Speed Trains
According to California High Speed Rail Authority estimates, a trip from San Diego to Los Angeles would take about 1 hour and 13 minutes, while the train travel time from Los Angeles to San Francisco would take about 2 hours and 35 minutes.
Compare this with these Google Maps estimates of travel time by automobile: San Diego – LA; 2 hours and 3 minutes (up to 3 hours with traffic), and Los Angeles to San Francisco; 5 hours and 49 minutes (up to 7 hours with traffic).
Precedent already exists for high-speed trains in Germany, England, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Korea, and Japan.
Data from California High-Speed Rail Authority
In 2006, California was estimated to have around 36 million people. The proposed California High-Speed Rail system has a total estimated cost of $33 billion. That means that if approved by the people of California and the governor, each person currently living in California will be loaning $33E9/36E6 people ~ $915 per person to fund the planning and construction of the system. State funding for construction of the initial Anaheim – San Francisco segment would be $9.95E9/36E6 people ~ $275 per person.
Considering these facts and estimates, how would you vote on this act in November?
Additional Resources:
Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train for the 21st Century Bond Act (California Assembly Bill 1228):
Description to go before voters on the November 4, 2008 ballot:
“This act provides for the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the
21st Century. For the purpose of reducing traffic on the state’s
highways and roadways, upgrading commuter transportation, improving
people’s ability to get safely from city to city, alleviating
congestion at airports, reducing air pollution, and providing for
California’s growing population, shall the state build a high-speed
train system and improve existing passenger rail lines serving the
state’s major population centers by creating a rail trust fund that
will issue bonds totaling $9.95 billion, paid from existing state
funds at an average cost of ____ dollars ($____) per year over the
30-year life of the bonds, with all expenditures subject to an
independent audit?”
California High-Speed Rail Authority (government):
http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/
Association for California High-Speed Trains (non-government):
http://www.highspeedtrainsforca.com/
High-Speed Rail Authority Implementation Plan:
Governor Schwarzeneggar’s 2008-2009 California State Budget Proposal:
caution: large .pdf file with 333 pages so “save file” to your computer before viewing!
California High Speed Rail Land Impacts
San Jose Mercury News Article
The Full Cost of High Speed Rail (1996 UC Berkeley Study)
Another High Speed Rail Plan for California: The Desert Xpress.
There is a private sector proposal to construct a high-speed train from Victorville, California to Las Vegas, Nevada. I think I would like a group of students to investigate this proposal. Check it out at http://www.desertxpress.com
Stephen Rees’ Opinion on the California High-Speed Rail Proposal
Rees has worked as a regional planner and transportation economist for the major transportation authority in Vancouver, British Columbia. Link to California High Speed Rail on Rees’ blog.
Some Already Existing High-Speed Rail Systems
TGV (predominantly France)
Image Source: Wikipedia Commons
The TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) in France. World’s fastest operating passenger train, in operation 26 years, since 1981. The project was funded by the government of France at a cost of about $13 billion. The TGV offers passenger service from Paris to Lyon, Paris to Lausanne, Switzerland, and other routes. In 2007 the train was recorded as reaching a speed of 357 miles per hour in a test run. As an example, the automobile driving time from Paris, France to Lausanne, Switzerland is estimated by Google Maps to be 5 hours and 3 minutes. The scheduled travel time for the TGV from Paris to Lausanne is 3 hours and 54 minutes (according to the Swiss Federal Railways), a savings of just over an hour of travel time. The cost of a one-way ticket for the trip is right around $100 per person.
Eurostar (England, France, Belgium)
Image Source: Wikipedia Commons
Eurostar is a high-speed rail network that crosses beneath the English Channel between London and Paris and also accesses Brussels, Belgium. The travel time and ticket price are roughly equivalent to flying.
Intercity Express (predominantly Germany)
The Intercity Express travels to many destinations throughout the German-speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, as well as other neighboring countries in Europe.
Shinkansen (Japan)
Image Source: Wikipedia Commons
The first high-speed rail network, the Shinkansen, was built in Japan in 1964.
