California gets $902 million for high-speed rail

The federal government awarded $902 million for rail projects across California, including $715 million to help design and build a section of the proposed bullet train system in the Central Valley, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. Officials for the U.S. Department of Transportation said the money would be distributed to 18 rail projects, including $100 million to buy rolling stock and almost $25 million for the installation of an automated braking and train control system from San Onofre to San Diego. Another $16 million was earmarked for a length of the high-speed rail project between San Francisco and San Jose, and $7 million for signal, bridge and track improvements in Del Mar, a coastal town in northern San Diego County. The money for California is part of $2.5 billion that the federal government is distributing for rail projects throughout the nation. In January, the California High-Speed Rail Authority was awarded $2.25 billion in federal funds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Estimated to cost $43 billion, the state high-speed rail project is designed to connect Southern California with the Bay Area via the Central Valley. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the following statement in response to announcements that California will receive additional funds: "These additional funds are a tremendous vote of confidence for California's high-speed rail project. As the nation's largest infrastructure project, California's high-speed rail system will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, reduce pollution, boost economic growth and link Californians from one end of this great state to the other. I thank the federal government for recognizing the value of accelerating the pace of our project and look forward to the many ground-breakings sure to follow."