In spite of funding challenges, the California High Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri says the state can still deliver on the project.
Choudri told a packed audience at Manny’s in the Mission District on Wednesday evening that a combination of private sector investment and public funds will help the Authority finish the job.
In September, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that would send a total of 20 billion dollars through 2045 to help finish the project.
Choudri said some of the other roadblocks to the project including engineering in California’s unique landscape, legal challenges, zoning issues—and public perception:
"There is some reason we have this mental roadblock in our mind that Europe can do it, but we can’t. So what I’m saying, not only we can, we are actually doing it next year."
Next year, the Authority plans on laying track, and securing train sets in the next two to three years.
The Trump Administration pulled four billion dollars from the rail project in July. But more than 60 percent of Californians still support it, according to a recent poll. That support was evident among the crowd at Manny’s. Drew Martin came in from Oakland for the event:
"As a admirer slash critic of high speed rail for so long and following the project, it kind of filled me with hope. Not a bunch of hope...some, some hope."
Choudri said the Authority plans to start operating high-speed rail in the Central Valley by 2032. Connections between the Central Valley to San Jose and Southern California’s Metrolink rail system will follow in 2039.