The Authority will continue to move forward with clearing all project sections between San Francisco and the Los Angeles/Anaheim area by 2017.
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Lisa Marie Alley, a spokeswoman for the rail authority, said Thursday that she was unable to comment on the Mercury News report, but said the newspaper had received a two-week-old preliminary version “that has since gone through numerous edits and iterations”.
“The math is pretty clear”, said Dan Richard, chairman of the board that oversees the project.
The rail authority believes that the 250 miles between San Jose and the Bakersfield area will be finished within ten years.
News of the change in direction came as little surprise to Palo Alto Mayor Pat Burt, whose city was at the epicenter of a fight against the authority’s plans several years ago to build an elevated four-track system.
Southern California officials have said building the segment to Burbank could be a major economic benefit for the region, provide commuters 15-minute rides to the Antelope Valley and create a convenient link to both the Central Valley and future high-speed trains to Las Vegas.
The people collecting signatures for a ballot initiative to divert high-speed rail money to water storage projects are not impressed with the newly released 2016 business plan.
Those who support the project, like Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin said the sooner the project is done, the better.
With existing funding and more than 100 miles of active construction in the Central Valley already underway, the Authority says it expected to complete the construction of the high-speed rail line between Silicon Valley and Central Valley by 2024, with operations beginning in 2025.
Opponents of high speed rail were quick to criticize the possible change as more evidence that the project is unfeasible and has grown far beyond what voters approved in 2008.
The reversal in directions is partly an admission about the challenges of constructing a rail line through the steep Tehachapi Mountains. The San Jose to San Francisco route is already serviced by Caltrain, which is supposed to share its network with the high-speed train. The route will also eventually connect to Los Angeles. “No offense to Bakersfield”, Naik said. The Authority is required by Public Utilities Code Section 185033 to prepare, publish, adopt and submit an updated Business Plan to the Legislature on May 1.
Diridon said ridership is estimated to be between 40 to 100 million riders a year and he thinks it will be higher than that given how fast the state is growing.
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“We have said all along that whatever happens or how it happens doesn’t matter as long as high-speed rail invests in Southern California”, Ikhrata said.
