The Fresno (CA) Bee, 6/28:
High-speed rail board seeks private-sector ideas, interest on financing, development
Highlights
Rail authority hopes to identify, solidify industry commitments
Initial plan wants developer to finance and build first operating segment
Cap-and-trade money would repay developer’s investment
One of the chief criticisms leveled at the California High-Speed Rail Authority over the past couple of years has been the lack of private-sector investment in its ambitious statewide bullet-train program. Those investments were promised to voters in Proposition 1A to make up about one-third of the money needed to build the system.
But that was when the cost for the program was projected at about $43 billion for a system to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles by way of the San Joaquin Valley. Now, the forecast is about $68 billion to reach downtown San Francisco and downtown Los Angeles. The agency has about $6 billion available to build about 120-130 miles of the line in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Tulare and Kern counties — a combination of about $3 billion in federal stimulus and transportation funds and about $3 billion from Prop. 1A, the $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond measure approved by California voters in 2008.
Beyond that, however, there is nary a private-sector dollar in sight.
Mindful — and repeatedly reminded — of that reality, the agency this week issued a “request for expressions of interest” from private industry, seeking input on how businesses believe they can best participate in financing, building and delivering a ready-to-operate system of electric passenger trains by the early 2020s.
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