Funded in part by California Climate Investments, the High‑Speed Rail Project has made investments to contribute to economic development and a cleaner environment, support jobs, and conserve and protect agricultural lands. Implementation of the High‑Speed Rail Project provides a variety of benefits to Californians. Estimated GHG emissions reductions from the High‑Speed Rail Project are 84 to 102 MMTCO2e over its first 50 years of operating life, as detailed in the 2023 California High‑Speed Rail Sustainability Report.
Workers at the Mountain View Avenue Grade Separation.
The California High‑Speed Rail Authority (Authority) is responsible for planning, designing, building, and operating the nation’s first High‑Speed Rail system that will connect the megaregions of the state. When complete, it will be capable of running from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin in under three hours at speeds of over 200 miles per hour, providing a clean alternative to driving or flying.
Examples of progress made over the last decade of investments include:
Grade Separations
Grade separations are one of the most significant investments the Authority is making to improve rail safety. In the Central Valley, the highspeed rail system will be fully grade-separated, which is essential to safety because of the speeds at which the trains will travel. These new overpasses also allow traffic to travel over the future highspeed rail lines. Grade separations also produce environmental and economic benefits, including reduced GHG emissions and air pollution from idling vehicles and reduced noise due to decreased need for audible signals. To date, 18 overcrossings and grade separations have been completed resulting in critical safety benefits for communities.
Caltrain Electrification Project
The Authority is delivering benefits now through investments in regional rail systems, creating an integrated rail network that will offer an attractive alternative to road and air travel. The Authority contributed $714 million, including GGRF and other funding sources, towards the Caltrain Electrification Project, which is modernizing the corridor between San Francisco and San Jose and will be used jointly by Caltrain and High-Speed Rail. The Caltrain Electrification Project provides immediate benefits to the adjacent communities by improving the Caltrain system performance and by reducing noise, improving air quality, and lowering GHG emissions. In June 2023, the project successfully tested the first electric trains on the corridor, with electric passenger service scheduled for fall 2024.
Construction Progress
The Authority continues to make significant progress on the first 119 miles of construction. At the end of 2023, more than two-thirds of contracted construction is complete, including completion of utility relocations, track bed, viaducts, road over and underpasses, wildlife crossings, and pedestrian walkways. As of September 2023, over $775 million including GGRF and other sources have been expended on small and disadvantaged businesses. Within those businesses, the Authority’s Community Benefits Agreement contains a Targeted Worker Program that ensures that 30% of all project work hours are performed by National Targeted Workers, and at least 10% of those work hours are performed by Disadvantaged Workers, including veterans.53 Analysis by the Authority in the 2024 Business Plan shows that 70% of construction jobs have been filled by individuals in disadvantaged communities.
Inspecting materials at the Hanford Girder Facility.
Expenditures and Investments
As of November 2023, the High‑Speed Rail Project has been appropriated $6.5 billion from the GGRF. Of the total projected Phase 1 (San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim) cost of $106.2 billion, the Authority has a funded Expenditure Authorization of $20.0 billion. Including future projected GGRF revenues through 2030, California Climate Investments will have provided approximately 40% of the overall funds allocated to fund the Expenditure Authorization budget, with a significant portion of funds leveraged from other sources, including a $3.1 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation in December 2023. Cumulatively, the High‑Speed Rail Project has expended $3.5 billion of appropriated GGRF funds toward project completion. See the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s 2024 Business Plan and technical reports for more information on methodologies, expenditures, and funding.
The Authority estimates that, from July 2006 through June 2023, 58% of total project expenditures, including GGRF and other sources, has occurred in disadvantaged community census tracts. These estimates were obtained using a different methodology than other California Climate Investments programs. For more information on the methodology, see the Economic Impact of California High‑Speed Rail 2024 report.
Total project expenditures have supported direct, indirect, and induced jobs in the California economy, over half of which are located in the Central Valley. These economic impacts have already taken place and do not consider the many future benefits once operations commence and the program delivers greater accessibility and station‑area connectivity, reduced highway congestion, and travel time savings.
A worker welds High-Speed Rail construction materials.