Advertisement California bullet train boss defends new route Service to start between San Jose and Bakersfield in 2025 Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The top executive in charge of California's high-speed rail project said Friday a newly released plan will guarantee the state can build a viable line with funds it currently has lined up."We don't want to start building something we don't know we can finish within existing resources," Jeff Morales, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, said.On Thursday, the authority released a 101-page draft report that updates its business plan."It's a very significant advance for the program," Morales said.The state's previous plan envisioned beginning passenger service between Merced and the San Fernando Valley in Southern California.The new plan pivots to the north and calls for the first trains to run between San Jose and a temporary station north of Bakersfield."This is really just a math issue," Morales said. "We know we have, in round numbers, $20 billion. We know we can build to the north with that."By contrast, the southern section will have to tunnel through the nearly 8,000-foot-tall Tehachapi Mountains and cut through dense urban areas in Northern Los Angeles County.Morales said the updated plan does not affect the project's goal of a 520-mile line from San Francisco to Los Angeles, with future extensions to Sacramento and San Diego."We're going to build the entire system. It's a question of which piece goes first," he said.The new plan also pushes back the scheduled start of passenger service from 2022 to 2025 and lowers the estimated cost of the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles line from $68 billion to $64 billion.The San Jose-to-Bakersfield line would be built with a combination of voter-approved bond funds, federal grants and dedicated revenues from the state's cap-and-trade carbon tax.Morales said the state would ask the federal government for an additional $2.9 billion to extend the initial operating line from San Francisco to downtown Bakersfield.Critics of high-speed rail said the changes show the project faces insurmountable obstacles."To me, this is just an issue to where the high speed rail authority wants to get something done," said George Runner, a member of the California Board of Equalization who signed the opposition argument against the 2008 ballot question.Runner said he is supporting a proposed ballot initiative that would redirect unspent bond funds from high-speed rail to water projects."We think it's an easy sell," Runner said. "And that's why we believe it should be on the ballot. What's more important to people: trains or water?"