California Signs Agreement with Federal Railroad Administration for $928.6 million

Sacramento – Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), Chairwoman of the Assembly Select Committee on High Speed Rail for California, released the following statement in response to the announcement by the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) that they have signed an agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration for the $928.6 million in additional federal funding to construct the initial segment in the Central Valley:

“I applaud today’s announcement that California’s High-Speed Rail project has secured all necessary federal funding for the design and construction of our project’s first usable segment in the Central Valley. This is great news and a testament to the federal government’s commitment to California’s High-Speed Rail system. With this initial construction, more than 100,000 jobs will be created and more than one million jobs are expected to be created over the life of the project which will incentivize the state’s economic activity and recovery. I hope this announcement will offer comfort to those who doubted California would receive the additional federal funding needed to construct the Central Valley segment and provide a clear signal that the project is on track.”

“The construction of the backbone of the project in the Central Valley will provide various opportunities to connect to existing and expanded Regional Commuter and Passenger Rail systems such as Amtrak and Altamont Commuter Express to BART and Caltrain in the Bay Area. The CHSRA can concentrate on filling “the Gap” between Bakersfield and Metrolink which will connect the Los Angeles area. Thereby, a phased and blended system, as proposed in the new CHSRA Business Plan, could provide passenger service from LA to the Bay Area and Sacramento long before the entire 800 mile High Speed Rail system is completed.”

CONTACT: Robin Adam 209-726-5465 or 209-658-2600 Or Victoria Grajek 916-319-2017