The federal government on Monday awarded $902 million for rail projects across California, including $715 million to help design and build a section of the proposed bullet train system in the Central Valley.



Officials for the U.S. Department of Transportation said the money would be distributed to 18 rail projects, including $100 million to buy rolling stock and almost $25 million for the installation of an automated braking and train control system from San Onofre to San Diego.



Another $16 million was earmarked for a length of the high-speed rail project between San Francisco and San Jose, and $7 million for signal, bridge and track improvements in Del Mar, a coastal town in northern San Diego County.



The money for California is part of $2.5 billion that the federal government is distributing for rail projects throughout the nation. In January, the California High-Speed Rail Authority was awarded $2.25 billion in federal funds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.



Estimated to cost $43 billion, the state high-speed rail project is designed to connect Southern California with the Bay Area via the Central Valley.



-- Dan Weikel