First high-speed rail tracks to reach Bakersfield

 

The first section of California’s high-speed rail line will link Fresno with Bakersfield, rail officials announced late last week.

Officials at the California High-Speed Rail Authority have confirmed that an additional $624 million announced Thursday from the U.S. Department of Transportation will allow the initial segment to go from Corcoran to Bakersfield.

The first $4.15 billion segment was originally announced to run from just south of Madera through Fresno and end just north of Corcoran. Critics panned the announcement as a “train to nowhere.” High-speed rail officials said it will be the nucleus for rail lines that will eventually take bullet trains from San Francisco and Sacramento to San Diego on an 800-mile-long system.

The federal government required that the additional funds announced Thursday extend the line to Bakersfield, the authority said in a press release Friday. The additional money was made available after Republican governors in Ohio and Wisconsin rejected $1.2 billion in high-speed rail grants intended for those states.

 

First high-speed rail tracks to reach Bakersfield.

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Filed under: Regional USA Passenger Rail, United States High Speed Rail