Serious high-speed rail efforts include slick simulations like this bit of transit-buff eye candy, produced for California officials.
California, which received the largest stimulus rail grant last Thursday, has been planning a high-speed line that ties together the state’s major metropolitan areas since 1996. In November 2008, California voters approved $9 billion in state bonds for the project.
The $2.25 billion award by the Obama administration would aid preliminary construction of several segments, including between Anaheim and Los Angeles and San Francisco and San Jose. If all goes as planned, the completed system would be opened by 2025 and reduce travel times between LA and San Francisco (400 miles) to 2 hours, 40 minutes, compared to 6 to 7 hours by car.
- by MARK REUTTER
