Is it possible to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than 3 hours?
In the newest episode of The Rebuild SoCal Zone podcast, host Jon Switalski sat down with Brian Kelly, Chief Executive Officer for California High-Speed Rail Authority to discuss the ins and outs of the project.
Kelly talks about the mobility, economic, and environmental benefits of the high-speed rail line that, once built, could take passengers from San Francisco to the Los Angeles Basin in under three hours at speeds capable of exceeding 200 miles per hour.
Kelly calls this the “right investment for the era we are in.” He says, “What I believe in my core is this – when Californians begin to experience high-speed rail, just Citizens around the world have been able to do in other countries, when you see the mobility benefit if getting from point a to point b so much quicker, so much faster, so much better than driving, you want it and you are going to want to see it expand.”
On April 28th, shortly after the podcast was recorded, the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors certified the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) and unanimously approved the approximately 90-mile San Jose to Merced project section in Northern California.
This action signifies a major milestone for the project as it completes environmental clearance for nearly 400 miles of the high-speed rail project’s 500-mile Phase 1 alignment from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim.
Rebuild SoCal has joined the U.S. High-Speed Rail Coalition to approve the $4.2 billion voter-approved bond appropriation for the project in Governor Newsom’s Fiscal Year 2022/2023 Budget which will help expedite the completion of the system’s first passenger service on the 171-mile initial operating segment between Merced and Bakersfield while advancing construction on the project’s critical bookends in the Los Angeles Basin and the Bay Area.
Tune in to this episode to learn more about:
- California High-Speed Rail Project
- Project status
- Overall project goals
Click >>HERE<< to hear more.
Listen to learn more
Click to listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and hear the full conversation with Brian Kelly.
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