[Pedestrian]

California Outlines Progress Toward North America's First High-Speed Rail System

“Electrified rail is advancing in all three regions of California—the Bay Area, Central Valley, and Southern California,” according to a draft of the 2020 Business Plan published by the California High Speed Rail Authority. Comments on it will be accepted through April 12.

The plan noted that construction is underway or will soon begin on 350 miles of high-speed rail: a 171-mile line in the Central Valley; 51 miles of electrified commuter rail in the Bay Area; and a 130-mile line being built by a private company between Las Vegas and San Bernardino County, California.

Work is now underway at 30 construction sites in the Central Valley. There are roughly 3,500 workers and 539 small businesses “engaged in building bridges, viaducts, grade separations and other high-speed rail infrastructure,” according to the report . . . .

The Central Valley high-speed line, which is expected to be in operation by 2028, will cut travel times from Merced to Bakersfield by up to 100 minutes. The full line is projected to be in operation in 2040 and will slash travel times from the Bay Area to Los Angeles to under 3 hours—versus a 7- to 8-hour drive. The system will carry 40 million riders annually, and the greenhouse-gas reductions will be the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the road . . . .

(San Joaquin River Viaduct)

https://www.hsrail.org/newsletter-dr...d-b736c309c09b