California High Speed Rail Thread

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by homebucket

CAHSR in general will run much less frequently than Caltrain.

The capacity of the system north of San Jose is dictated by the configuration of Transbay, not the 45~ miles of mainline track.

Each HSR train needs upwards of an hour to enter the future tunnel portal near Kings and then pass that point headed in the opposite direction. It's like 10 minutes to approach, 10 minutes to get out, and 30 minutes to empty, clean, and board each train. Meanwhile the commuter trains only need 3-4 minutes at the platform before reversing since the trains don't need to be cleaned/restocked and the crews don't need to change. Passengers aren't carrying as much luggage.

Meanwhile, San Jose won't be afflicted by the capacity restraints and so many more HSR trains can terminate there than at Transbay. This is the whole secret reason why HSR is so controversial - San Jose will have much better service levels than San Franciscom(and Oakland/East Bay will have zero direct service). Not only will San Jose be 45~ minutes closer to Los Angeles (and so much more competitive than flying), it'll have many more arrivals and departures.

[HusBy]

Sounds like they need to get the BART orange line to a San Jose HSR station.

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by HusBy

Sounds like they need to get the BART orange line to a San Jose HSR station.

Both the Green and Orange Lines will be extended to SJ's HSR station (Diridon). Right now, they are working on building the West Portal, which is the tunnel’s west entrance and will serve as the launching point for the tunnel boring machine.

[HusBy]

Ah - excellent! Thanks for sharing that.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Both the Green and Orange Lines will be extended to SJ's HSR station (Diridon). Right now, they are working on building the West Portal, which is the tunnel’s west entrance and will serve as the launching point for the tunnel boring machine.

Has there ever been any talk of building an airport somewhere else so that this one can be closed? The land is now incredibly valuable + it prevents San Jose from building high-rises.

[ardecila]

It's a mountainous region without a lot of flat empty land to build new airports. SJC is in a prime location for Silicon Valley business travelers, and the Bay Area has two other airports to handle the demand as well. Similarly with highrises, I don't think anybody really even wants to build real highrises in downtown SJ.

Getting back to the point of this thread, a CAHSR investment between SF and LA should take a lot of strain off the airports as well and free up capacity for the next few decades. If air capacity really becomes an issue in the future they can build a new budget airport off the CASHR line in Los Banos or something.

[202_Cyclist]

Good. I hope more states go to court to protect the transportation funding that has already been awarded.

California high-speed rail takes Trump administration to court to salvage $4 billion

https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...988&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky

[202_Cyclist]

Private partnership for High-Speed Rail in California? CEO says it’s coming next year

By Erik Galicia
Fresno Bee
November 12, 2025

"The head of the California High-Speed Rail Authority says the state’s $20 billion guarantee could secure the agency a first-ever partnership with private investors by mid-2026. I

t’s a move that could speed construction and reduce reliance on taxpayer dollars but might also require changes to a California law that mandates first building the train from Merced-to-Bakersfield — a segment the rail authority says will lose money and is less attractive to investors than one that includes Gilroy and Palmdale.

Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri said last week that the agency’s board will decide Nov. 20 whether to officially start vetting investors who were waiting on the train to secure long-term financial backing from the state."

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article312808780.html#storylink=cpy

[202_Cyclist]

California Drops Lawsuit Over $4 Billion Federal Cut to High-Speed Rail Project
California sued after the Trump administration cut grants for the long-planned project. The state says it will seek private investors instead.

By Francesca Regalado
Dec. 27, 2025
NY Times

"The California High-Speed Rail Authority has dropped its lawsuit against the Trump administration over the termination of $4 billion in federal grants for the state's high-speed rail project, opting instead to pursue private investment...

The authority said in a statement on Saturday that its decision to drop the lawsuit “reflects the state’s assessment that the federal government is not a reliable, constructive or trustworthy partner in advancing high-speed rail in California.”

The statement continued: “The Federal Railroad Administration stated that all work performed by the authority — whether undertaken as part of cooperative agreements or otherwise — remains ‘at risk’ and may not receive funding. Combined with the administration’s persistent lack of good-faith engagement, this made clear that the federal government is unlikely to uphold its commitments to California. As a result, the state has opted to move forward without the Trump administration.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/us/ca...l-lawsuit-transportation-department.html

[FromSD]

As far as I'm aware, the Trump Administration let Brightline West keep the $3 billion that it got from the Biden Administration. So the privately owned tourist train to Vegas gets MAGA's blessing, but California High Speed Rail can pound sand. Ridiculous.

[Busy Bee]

A decision even more predictable than the Trump Administration tearing the country apart.

[patriotizzy]

Originally Posted by FromSD

As far as I'm aware, the Trump Administration let Brightline West keep the $3 billion that it got from the Biden Administration. So the privately owned tourist train to Vegas gets MAGA's blessing, but California High Speed Rail can pound sand. Ridiculous.

A simple Google search would easily clear this up:

My prompt:
"Why did the Trump Administration let Brightline West keep the $3 billion federal funding but strip it away from the california high speed rail"

AI Overview:
"The Trump administration stripped federal funding from the
California High-Speed Rail project due to chronic delays, massive cost overruns, and a determination that the project had no viable path to completion on time or within budget. In contrast, Brightline West was a private venture that primarily used private funding and pursued a different type of federal funding structure, thus avoiding the specific issues that led to the termination of the California project's grants."

I mean, it's very self-explanatory for anyone with common sense

[Busy Bee]

I find you embarrassing.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by patriotizzy

I mean, it's very self-explanatory for anyone with common sense

Yes, nothing like says "common sense" like a fascist maniac burning down the U.S.

[FromSD]

Originally Posted by patriotizzy

A simple Google search would easily clear this up:


AI Overview:
"The Trump administration stripped federal funding from the
California High-Speed Rail project due to chronic delays, massive cost overruns, and a determination that the project had no viable path to completion on time or within budget. In contrast, Brightline West was a private venture that primarily used private funding and pursued a different type of federal funding structure, thus avoiding the specific issues that led to the termination of the California project's grants."

I mean, it's very self-explanatory for anyone with common sense

Right, that explains it. Though, I wonder about those Brightline West cost overruns. Last October, the cost estimate went from $16 billion to $21.5 billion, and this despite everyone acknowledging Trump's claim to have vanquished inflation. Oh, and despite an announced construction start of April 2024, the only actual construction has been grading for the Las Vegas station; there has been no construction in the right of way itself. And though Brightline West promised a completion date of 2027 in time for the LA Olympics, the new expected finish date is 2029, barring any further slips. As for the boast that Brightline West is a private project (and hence inherently superior), it's got its $3 billion grant from the feds, not to mention federal loan guarantees for another $3 billion. Plus it runs in publicly owned right of way in the median of Interstate 15. And who wants to bet against Brightline having its hands out for more government support as its costs continue to escalate?

But maybe Secretary Sean "Real World" Duffy and the other Trump officials weren't aware of these issues. That wouldn't be entirely surprising.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by FromSD

Plus it runs in publicly owned right of way in the median of Interstate 15. And who wants to bet against Brightline having its hands out for more government support as its costs continue to escalate?

But maybe Secretary Sean "Real World" Duffy and the other Trump officials weren't aware of these issues. That wouldn't be entirely surprising.

Which is a great way to save money but a mostly lousy way to build true HSR. The original DesertXpress engineering was and still is superior in every way. The currently planned segments of single tracking that prevents required increased capacity if/when the line is integrated into a theoretical future network is inexcusable in this person's opinion and quite frankly embarrassing. I have a really bad feeling that when BW is finished - if that even happens - it will be kind of a joke. Conservative government seems to love nothing more than to prove rail transportation can't compete with or replace the automobile or jet. Ask yourself perhaps that's an element of why they are supporting this. What better way than to build a "HSR line" that doesn't follow international standards and winds up a failed enterprise to be touted as failure of concept by the rail haters?

#unpopularopinion

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Which is a great way to save money but a mostly lousy way to build true HSR. The original DesertXpress engineering was and still is superior in every way. The currently planned segments of single tracking that prevents required increased capacity if/when the line is integrated into a theoretical future network is inexcusable in this person's opinion and quite frankly embarrassing. I have a really bad feeling that when BW is finished - if that even happens - it will be kind of a joke. Conservative government seems to love nothing more than to prove rail transportation can't compete with or replace the automobile or jet. Ask yourself perhaps that's an element of why they are supporting this. What better way than to build a "HSR line" that doesn't follow international standards and winds up a failed enterprise to be touted as failure of concept by the rail haters?

#unpopularopinion

Adding to the possibility of this thing becoming a joke, I am skeptical that Brightline West's median alignment is going to be a comfortable ride. It will inevitably have more small elevation changes and sharper turns than a dedicated high speed railway.

I do think that having Brightline u/c will increase the possibility of the Burbank-Palmdale Tunnel being built in our lifetimes since the state-owned tunnel will have an immediate paying tenant. Pushing Brightline might even be part of an effort to motivate CAHSR to build LA's approach before the Pacheco Pass Tunnel and SF connection.

[electricron]

Have you guys and gals looked at their approved plans yet. Lucid Stew has a few YouTube videos over the proposed alignment. You'll be surprised how little of this corridor reaches 200 mph speeds, and how much never reaches over 110 mph speeds.
I-15 distance between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas is 218 miles. Their goal is to travel that far in 210 minutes, or 2.5 hours. Therefore the average speed required is (218/2.5=) 87.2 mph.

These trains will not be at maximum speeds climbing or descending mountain passes. They will only reach maximum speeds in the dry lake deserts between the mountain passes. They don't need 200 mph speeds over much of the trip to achieve the 2 hours and 30 minutes goal, the elapse time they believe will be competitive with flying from the LA basin.

I wonder why the 300 miles distance travel and 3 hours elapse time keeps popping up in high speed rail conversations?

[jmecklenborg]

Also, for some $ perspective, the boy wonder Mark Zuckerberg has torched $73 billion on the Metaverse, many times more than has been spent to date on CAHSR:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meta-platforms-lost-73-billion-165823364.html

[ReDSPork02]

Exactly. This