This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Are You All Aboard with High-Speed Rail?

The Democrat-controlled Senate passed the first $8 billion leg of the $69 billion statewide project, setting in motion the most expensive project in state history. Think you will use it when it's done?

The state's high-speed rail project won't be rolling through Carmichael or the Sacramento area yet, but Sacramento area residents will be paying for it along with everyone else.

Think the statewide system is something you'll use when it's completed? 

Let's back up. Do you think it really will be completed?

Find out what's happening in Fair Oaks-Carmichaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On Friday, the state Senate voted 21-16 to spend billions of funding into beginning work on California’s high-speed rail project that will connect Northern California with Southern California tracks through the Central Valley. The project received $7.9 billion in state and federal money, which will be used for the first 130 miles of track and to upgrade a handful of transit programs, including Caltrain.

The state Senate vote follows a 51-27 Assembly vote that authorized the spending. In Friday’s vote, most Democrats voted in favor of the project, while Republicans opposed it, according to NBC Bay Area.

Find out what's happening in Fair Oaks-Carmichaelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who pushed lawmakers to approve the project, will now receive the funding measure.

“In 2008, California voters decided to create jobs and modernize our state’s rail transportation system with a major investment in high-speed rail and key local projects in Northern and Southern California," Brown said in a released statement after the vote. "The Legislature took bold action today that gets Californians back to work and puts California out in front once again.”

State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who sat on the Senate's unofficial bullet train oversight group, voted against the funding.

With high-speed rail finally moving forward, Caltrain and Peninsula residents are set to reap even more benefits as well, the Mercury News reported:

Friday's vote also launches a long-sought project to transform the 150-year-old Caltrain line into an electrified commuter track carrying cheaper, zippier Caltrains between San Francisco and San Jose later this decade. BART will receive $140 million for new train cars, and Muni will receive $60 million for a new subway line to Chinatown.

The $1.5 billion Caltrain overhaul, which is also being funded with local and federal funds, is expected to finally solve the popular commuter line's ongoing fiscal crisis.

Statewide bullet trains would join the electrified Caltrain line next decade at the start of a three-hour journey from downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles, with a one-way ticket pegged at $85 in today's dollars.

The high-speed rail will initially run from San Francisco to Los Angeles via the Central Valley, but later extend to Sacramento and San Diego, according to the California High-Speed Rail Authority website.

This all begs the question for Carmichael and Sacramento area residents: Are you all aboard?

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Fair Oaks-Carmichael