High Speed Rail and the Government of California

High Speed Rail
Students’ Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date
Letter
Just over six months ago, I was appointed by the government of California to head a special committee that studied the benefits of having a high-speed rail in the state. Throughout the past six months, as a committee we have engaged with a dedicated team of professionals not only in the county from other countries that have the high-speed rail system on the concept, financing, delivery steps and benefits of HSR. Over the course, we have engaged with these professionals to obtain their advice on whether we should go on with the project or not and how it should be implemented. In preparing this report, I have considered the experiences abroad countries such as Japan, UK, China and France have had with high-speed rail. The benefits are sounding, which have led me to conclude that its benefits outweigh the overall costs. I have also concluded that there are opportunities to engage foreign investors in financing and delivering this project. Therefore, I conclude that the project should be continued but with few changes in the implementation strategy; further the CHSRA should engage the locals during the decision making-process especially in land acquisition.
I wish to thank the state government and CHSRA for the cooperation throughout the exercise and wish CHSRA well in its commitment to deliver a high-speed rail in California.
Yours
Name
Table of Contents
Executive Summary3
High Speed Rail4
California High Speed Rail Authority5
Purpose5
Implementation Plan6
Funding6
Other Countries with High Speed Rail7
Benefits of High Speed Rail in Abroad Countries8
Benefits to California9
Benefits to Fresno11
Conclusion12
Recommendation 13
References14
Appendix15
Executive Summary
The high-speed rail construction in California was approved in 2008 by the former president Barrack Obama. The responsibility of planning, designing, building and operating the high-speed rail was designated to California High Speed Rail Authority which was established by the California State legislature. However, all along there have been various criticisms over the construction of the HSR something that has held the authority from delivering its promise of having the first HSR completed by 2018. Some challenges have been from funding sources, its benefits, and the implementation strategy. This report reviews the sources of funds, implementation strategy, countries that have the HSR as well as the benefits that they have experienced from it. The report also establishes some of the benefits that California will experience from constructing the HSR.
High Speed Rail
Multiple definitions for high speed rail exist around the world. The first definition is that of the European Union Directive, which defines it in terms of infrastructure, minimum speed limit and operating conditions. In terms of infrastructure, the tracks are specifically built for high speed travels. The considered minimum speed is 250km/h (155 mph) for lines built specifically for high-speed, 200 km/h (124 mph) for the upgraded lines. For the rail to be considered high-speed under the European Union Directive, its rolling stock must reach a speed of more than 20...