While the High Speed Rail Authority figures out how to round up enough money to lay track and get travelers zipping down to SoCal, Chronicle columnist and noted Jimmy Buffett fan C.W. Nevius wants to know why we're not already sailing between San Francisco and other West Coast ports of call. The city is putting in all this infrastructure to cater to cruise ships before the America's Cup, and we love our tourists (or the $8.6 billion per year the city makes off of them, anyway) so what's keeping San Francisco from becoming a popular bermuda shirt destination? more ›

You'll recall there was some hubbubb this past winter after the California High-Speed Rail Authority released a revised cost projection that put the project at $100 billion, more than double an original estimate of $43 billion made in 2008. Well, the CHSRA went back to the drawing board and managed to shave some $30 billion off that estimate, announcing this week via a new revised report that they now think the 520-mile project can be done for $68.4 billion, and could be completed by 2029, four years ahead of the earlier schedule. more ›

More sad news for the LA-to-SF high-speed rail line: House GOP members adopted an amendment late last night that "would prohibit California from receiving any high speed rail money in a huge five-year transportation bill headed to the House floor next week." Terrific. more ›

Yesterday, a "renowned group of transportation and financial experts" warned lawmakers that funding the state's $99 billion high-speed train is an "immense financial risk." The biggest concern from the group was California's "plan to spend all available funding -- $6 billion -- on a small stretch of track in the Central Valley and hope for the rest of the money." What's more, the bullet train's faces a $25 - $30 billion shortfall during its first phase, "and that there are no available funding sources that could fill that gap." more ›

When the decidedly anti-rail Congress eliminated future funding for high-speed rail late last week, California's bullet train looked to be running out of track real fast. Although House Republicans were eagerly taking credit for killing Obama's "misguided" national high-speed rail network, there's still plenty of hope for California's HSR project. more ›

The headlines today and yesterday are all blaring the fact that, according to new estimates, the cost of the San Francisco-to-Anaheim high-speed rail line will now be closer to $100 billion, up from an original projection in 2008 of $43 billion. But the fact is that the new estimates call for greater phasing of the project over 20 years, and adjustments for inflation are largely responsible for the uptick. more ›

As we've discussed, there are some well-off folks on the Peninsula who would like to see the California high-speed rail project die — or at the very least get re-routed over a new bridge across the Bay which will never be built. Well, as it happens, they're not the only ones gearing up for their days in court! A group of farmers, farm advocates, and towns in Kings County are getting ready to submit their comments to a draft environmental review, and they're planning to fight to the death over the loss of "thousands of acres of prime farm land between Fresno and Bakersfield." As California Watch reports, delays or discussion of rerouting the train in this central segment could derail the entire project, because construction needs to start there soon if federal stimulus cash isn't going to get forfeited. more ›

We're starting to wonder if this whole high-speed rail thing is just a pipe-dream we'll tell our grandkids about when they ask why they still have to drive up and down I-5 to get to L.A. more ›

The California High-Speed Rail Authority says it was caught by surprise this week with a letter from the Bay Area Council and regional transportation agencies calling for a revised high-speed rail plan on the Peninsula, including slowing down the speed of the high-speed trains and not building any new overpasses so that Peninsula communities won't feel so put out. more ›

As we've discussed earlier, wealthy Peninsula communities like Palo Alto and Menlo Park have been seething for years about the plan to bring the LA-SF high-speed rail line through their pristine environs. They've filed some lawsuits that would require the CA Rail Authority to rewrite their environmental impact studies, and brought a 1,000-year-old tree into the argument. The latest lawsuit contends that the authority "gamed" their computer models that predicted ridership demand for the train in order to prove that it was necessary to route the train south from S.F. to San Jose, over the Pacheco Pass to the Central Valley, rather than east and over the Altamont Pass, following the route of 580. You see, some people in Palo Alto would rather see them build another damn bridge over the Bay than have the train come anywhere near them. more ›

California's High-Speed Rail project, which has received plenty of badmouthing from peninsula crybabies already, lost it's public relations firm last week when Ogilvy PR decided they just couldn't bear to be in the relationship anymore. In a statement from Ogilvy's managing director, the agency told the HSR Authority that they were "unable to develop a solid working relationship with [the Authority], and that impeded the top-notch work we are accustomed to providing our clients." more ›

While California looks for additional funding to cover the $43 billion price tag on our high-speed rail project, Florida Governor Rock Scott recently turned down $2.4 billion in federal dollars for a similar project in his state. We're going to go ahead and assume Florida's non-retired population is perfectly happy traveling by swamp boat or whatever it is they do. As for the snowbirds - well, they probably realized they won't be around long enough to see the project come to fruition anyway. No skin off our back though, Florida's funds will be divvied up amongst the 15 other states with HSR projects and $300 million of it will land in California's coffers. more ›

We heard early in December about the decision to build the first leg of the California high-speed rail line between Bakersfield and Corcoran, in the Central Valley, with a terminus in a place called Borden. Now, Jesse McKinley at the NYT writes up this opening stage of what will be one of the most massive transit projects of the coming decades, noting the "surprise" of the decision for the route (the federal stimulus funds came with the condition they be spent in the Central Valley), the criticism from ignored townships/politicians calling it a "train to nowhere," and the fact that Borden is a "gold rush ghost town... where all that remains is a tiny cemetery devoted to long dead Chinese workers." more ›

Opponents of the proposed high speed rail, which would extend from the Bay Area to Los Angeles have brandished their latest weapon: a tree. It seems that Stanford’s iconic Redwood, “El Palo Alto,” is directly along the route of the system. more ›

The cities of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Atherton, along with five environmental and citizens groups, filed suit Monday to stop the proposed high-speed rail that will rip through their quiet enclaves, if and when its built. The towns have banded together to call bullshit on an environmental impact report produced by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, claiming that the report shows inflated ridership numbers. In legalese, here's what they said in the suit, "The defective and inaccurate ridership and revenue information ... resulted in the [Authority] not being able to make accurate and informed choices among various project alternatives and in not being able to properly or accurately determine the financial feasibility of various project alternatives and mitigation measures." more ›

Where has Gov. Schwarzenegger been during the San Bruno fire disaster, you ask? In China! The former movie star cum California politico headed East to sign part of the East Span of the Bay Bridge, check out the high-speed rail train in Shanghai, hawk California pistachios and wine, and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan... more ›

Everyone touts Europe and Japan as being so awesome for their high-speed rail lines, and America as being backwards for having only one (the Acela line between Boston and D.C., and even it's not the fastest). But aren't there a few practical reasons for why more such lines don't exist here? Namely that the metropolitan areas between which people might prefer to take a train over a plane are just too damn far apart? more ›

CurbedSF is reporting that the denizens of San Francisco's South Beach neighborhood are damn mad at the California High Speed Rail Authority and, as typical, they're not going to take it anymore. more ›

by Chris Jones more ›

The Obama Administration made an exciting announcement today regarding Obama's vision for a new era of high-speed rail for U.S. travelers. Obama's Strategic Plan will rebuild existing rail infrastructure and develop a comprehensive high-speed intercity passenger rail network through a long-term commitment at both the federal and state levels. This plan draws from successful highway and aviation development models with a 21st century solution that focuses on clean, energy-efficient rail transportation. more ›