San Francisco, CA – Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani and the City of Merced’s Mayor Bill Spriggs were two of the many dignitaries attending the groundbreaking ceremony today in San Francisco for the new Transbay Transit Center.

“Today’s groundbreaking for the Transbay Terminal marks the beginning of high-speed rail jobs in California”, stated Galgiani, “The 48,000 jobs that will be created over the construction of this project is only the beginning.”

The Transbay Terminal will be the first in the nation to meet design specifications for a high-speed train system.  Starting as early as 2012, high-speed rail will bring thousands of high-paying jobs, benefitting all construction trades and put Californians back to work.

Speakers at the event included U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, former Republican Speaker and Chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, Curt Pringle, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.

The Transbay Terminal will be a hub for California’s high-speed rail system, and the center for 11 other transit systems, including Caltrain, AC Transit, BART, Muni, Golden Gate Transit, Amtrak and more.

$400 million dollars for this phase of the high-speed rail project is due to California’s request for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, in which California received $2.25 billion for high-speed intercity passenger rail.

LaHood, congratulated California for ‘having it’s act together’ and receiving the federal economic stimulus funding.  “The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Railroad Administration are proud to contribute to the first phase of this effort."

“The Transbay Terminal project is creating 48,000 jobs for Northern California and Central Valley construction workers.  If you are interested in applying to work on the Transbay Terminal, please contact your union trade association in the Bay Area or the attached list of businesses that have been awarded contracts for construction on the project.”