California - U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that California will receive $2.2 billion for high-speed rail development and another $100 million to improve existing rail systems in Southern California and the Capitol Corridor in Northern California. LaHood said California’s willingness to help pay for the projects put it at the top of the list when it came to securing federal funding. This allocation gives California a huge share of the $8 billion set aside by Congress, far higher than any other state. Few expected California to get anything close to the $4.7 billion it requested. The money will fund high-speed rail project construction costs on sections including San Francisco to San Jose, Merced to Fresno and Fresno to Bakersfield. The first phase of construction alone is expected to cost $43 million. Once completed, the trains will travel up to 220 miles per hour. The White House says that the high-speed rail projects will create or save thousands of jobs in engineering, manufacturing, planning and maintenance. Shortly after his State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama traveled to Tampa to view progress on a new high-speed rail connection between Tampa and Orlando which he says he will ride when it is completed. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein told the Associated Press the California High-Speed Rail Authority estimates that every $1 billion spent on high-speed rail creates 20,000 jobs, “and I can't overstate how important this is to a state with 12.4 percent unemployment and more than 2.25 million people out of work.” California’s rail construction is set to begin in 2011. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. -
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California - U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that California will receive $2.2 billion for high-speed rail development and another $100 million to improve existing rail systems in Southern California and the Capitol Corridor in Northern California. LaHood said California’s willingness to help pay for the projects put it at the top of the list when it came to securing federal funding. This allocation gives California a huge share of the $8 billion set aside by Congress, far higher than any other state. Few expected California to get anything close to the $4.7 billion it requested. The money will fund high-speed rail project construction costs on sections including San Francisco to San Jose, Merced to Fresno and Fresno to Bakersfield. The first phase of construction alone is expected to cost $43 million. Once completed, the trains will travel up to 220 miles per hour. The White House says that the high-speed rail projects will create or save thousands of jobs in engineering, manufacturing, planning and maintenance. Shortly after his State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama traveled to Tampa to view progress on a new high-speed rail connection between Tampa and Orlando which he says he will ride when it is completed. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein told the Associated Press the California High-Speed Rail Authority estimates that every $1 billion spent on high-speed rail creates 20,000 jobs, “and I can't overstate how important this is to a state with 12.4 percent unemployment and more than 2.25 million people out of work.” California’s rail construction is set to begin in 2011. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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