Presidential perspective on Calif. high-speed rail

President Biden spoke with Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer this week about high-speed rail.

CHSRA

The White House demonstrated its support for high-speed rail this week.

This week, StreetsBlog CAL reported that Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer spoke with President Biden via Zoom call about plans, perspectives, and funding for high-speed rail in California. The conversation was sparked by the funds the high-speed rail project will receive from the $1 trillion dollar federal infrastructure bill.

StreetsBlog Cal quoted the president’s remark that “‘I’m a big rail guy. We have more money in this area, for high-speed rail, than all the money we’ve spent on Amtrak–this is a gigantic investment. We’re talking about electric. We’re not talking about diesel. And we’re talking about being able to transform and impact on the air quality in your area.”

This was in response to Mayor Dyer’s statement that “Fresno is ground zero for California’s high-speed rail efforts. Federal assistance is vital. And I’m hopeful this infrastructure bill will provide that support to us here in Fresno.”

The state believes that it may receive between $20 to $40 billion for the project. Melissa Figueroa, a spokeswoman for the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) said “This is a once-in-a-lifetime investment in rail. We see somewhere between $20-40 billion in funding we can compete in to get funds for the California high-speed rail project, and that’s what we intend to do.”

While the federal money will be a shot in the arm for the project, there are other challenges to deal with. You can read the complete story from StreesBlog CAL.

Read more articles about passenger rail.