HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER TRAIN BOND

The Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century was originally scheduled to appear on the November 2, 2004, General Election ballot. Subsequently, SB 1169in 2004, provided that it appear on the November 7, 2006, General Election ballot. However, most recently, AB 713 in 2006, provides for the submission of this Act on the November 4, 2008, General Election ballot instead.

Summary

1. This new measure would create the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century.
2. The bond would provide the issuance of $9.95 billion of bonds, which $9 billion of it would be used in conjunction with available federal funds for the planning and construction of the high-speed train system.
3. The initial high-speed train line would link San Francisco and the Bay Area to Los Angeles with additional lines linking all of the state’s major population centers to include Sacramento, the Central Valley, the Inland Empire, Orange County, and San Diego.
4. The entire 700-mile system would be constructed and in revenue service by 2020 with the initial line in limited service to be determined after the bond is passed.

Background

1. Created in 1996, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has pursued the vision for a high-speed train system connecting California’s major metropolitan areas.
2. The Authority has identified preferred corridor alignments and stations from the Central Valley through Los Angeles to San Diego as well as inside much of the Bay Area.
3. Between the Central Valley and the Bay Area, further study is needed to select a preferred corridor alignment.
4. The recent program environmental review has found that the high-speed train system will have fewer impacts, create more economic stimulus and cost less than half as much as the alternative— building more lanes, bridges and ramps along highways; and terminals, gates and runways at airports.
5. The Authority’s studies show that the full system, serving 30 stations, will attract 42 to 68 million passengers per year in 2020, operate at a surplus and cost over $33 billion to build.
6. High-speed trains will be capable of speeds of up to 220 mph and will be similar to those in service today in Europe and Asia.
7. The system will be built mostly within or alongside existing transportation corridors and will be entirely grade-separated from parallel and crossing roads, providing the same extremely safe environment enjoyed in other countries, where not a single passenger fatality has occurred on new lines in 41 years of operation.