SAN DIEGO — The author of a bond measure to start construction of a 700-mile high-speed rail system added $3 billion to the proposal Monday to boost train speeds between San Jose to San Francisco, reports KGTV TheSanDiegoChannel.com.
Sen. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, introduced the measure earlier this year as a $6 billion plan to help pay for the first leg of the system, between Los Angeles and San Jose.
The high-speed trains would have run between San Francisco and San Jose, too, but at conventional speeds initially.
At the urging of Sen. Jackie Speier (news, bio, voting record), D-Daly City, Costa agreed to boost the bond authorization to $9 billion to make the track improvements needed for high-speed travel between San Jose and San Francisco.
Costa and other high-speed rail supporters are also counting on federal aid and perhaps private funding to help pay for the first leg of the line. They say there would be enough revenue from the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco line to pay for extensions to San Diego and Sacramento.
The Senate Appropriations Committee put off a vote on the bond bill until Thursday, when it will take up dozens of other measures costing more than $150,000.