California Bullet Train Getting On Track

At long last, California’s promised high-speed train system is becoming more than just a pipe dream. The state will break ground on the first section of track in Fresno on January 6th, creating the foundation for a 220MPH rail network that will eventually extend as far as Sacramento and San Diego. It’ll be a while before you can take the train to most major cities, so don’t start scheduling that vacation just yet.

Traveling faster than a Ferrari at 220 miles per hour, the bullet train will slash in half the six-hour drive from northern to southern California. The multibillion-dollar project is due to run bullet trains from the Los Angeles basin to the San Francisco Bay area in the 2020s.

Diana Gomez with the High-Speed Rail Authority said the new electric rail system will help end congestion on our crowded freeways and also help to improve air quality.

“Our goal is to have a train running from San Francisco to Los Angeles,” she said. The rail system will also bring local jobs, she adds.

“We can get a lot more miles built in the Central Valley — cheaper than Los Angeles or San Francisco, and we need this leg to start testing the system,” said Gomez.

The rail system’s construction is already problematic. Officials expect it to cost a staggering $68 billion when it’s all done, and the need for convenient stations is poised to disrupt areas like San Francisco’s Chinatown. However, the potential time and energy savings are huge. You’ll ideally get from San Francisco to LA in three hours, or quickly enough that it would frequently make more sense to take the train instead of flying or driving. That, in turn, might clear up California’s roads and skies, reducing both pollution and traffic congestion in one fell swoop.

Source: Engadget