(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Steve Lawrence on December 11.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is looking to the federal government to pick up a bigger share of the cost of building an 800-mile high-speed rail system that would link the state’s biggest cities with trains running at speeds of up to 220 miles-per-hour.
A new financing plan issued by the state’s high-speed rail board relies on Washington to provide up to half of the approximately $32 billion needed for the first leg of the project. That 520-mile segment would connect Anaheim, Los Angeles, Fresno and San Francisco.
Plans eventually call for lines to San Diego and Sacramento too.
Planners used to talk about getting a third of the funding from the federal government, a third from the state and a third from private investors.