{"id":72622,"date":"2025-05-07T18:57:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T01:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=72622"},"modified":"2025-05-07T18:57:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T01:57:47","slug":"tale-of-two-trains-california-high-speed-rail-leaves-texas-in-the-dust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=72622","title":{"rendered":"Tale of two trains: California high-speed rail leaves Texas in the dust"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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What you need to know:<\/strong>\u00a0Despite the Trump Administration’s assaults, both California and Texas are working to build high-speed rail. But only one state has built anything: California.<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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SACRAMENTO \u2014 What\u2019s the main difference between California high-speed rail and Texas high-speed rail?\u00a0California\u2019s system is under construction; Texas\u2019 has yet to break ground.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

California has transitioned from vision and ideas to active construction and tangible economic benefits, while the Texas project remains a dream mostly on paper. Despite the noise from Washington, California high-speed rail is becoming real.\u00a0It\u2019s another critical project part of the Governor\u2019s\u00a0build more, faster agenda<\/a>\u00a0delivering infrastructure upgrades and thousands of jobs across the state.<\/p>\n

The facts speak for themselves \u2014 here\u2019s the progress since 2013 for both systems:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Route<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n494 miles \u2013 San Francisco to Los Angeles\/Anaheim via Central Valley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n240 miles \u2013 Dallas to Houston, via Brazos Valley<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Environmental clearance<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a0463 of 494 miles environmentally cleared\u00a0by federal and state government<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\nFederal clearance (less comprehensive and transparent)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Construction status<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a0171 miles under active development; 119 miles under active construction;\u00a052 major structures built<\/a>; extensions to Merced and Bakersfield in design<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n\"\u274c\"\u00a0Not started<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Station development<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a0Merced, Fresno, Kings\/Tulare and Bakersfield in advance design<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n\"\u274c\"\u00a0Not started<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Funding structure<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a0Public funding (state + federal) with potential for future private investment<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n\"\u274c\"\u00a0Private, federal funding pulled<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Projected opening<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a0Early Operating Segment: 2030-2033<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n\"\u274c\"\u00a0Not established<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Jobs created<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a015,000+ jobs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n\"\u274c\"\u00a0None reported<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Economic benefits<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a0The project has already generated nearly $22 billion in economic output, boosting the state\u2019s economy. The full San Francisco-Los Angeles system is estimated to support $221.8 billion in economic output once it\u2019s in operation.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n\"\u274c\"\u00a0No current data. The project is anticipated to generate $36 billion in economic impact over the next 25 years.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Environmental benefits<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a0Estimated to reduce California\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions by 0.6 to 3 million MTCO2e annually \u2013 this is the equivalent of removing 142,000 to 700,000 cars off the road.<\/p>\n

Diverted 95% of construction waste from landfills by recycling, reusing or composting.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n\"\u274c\"\u00a0No current data<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Integration with existing transit<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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California<\/strong>
\n\"\u2705\"\u00a0Future connections to Caltrain, ACE, High Desert Corridor, Brightline West, Metrolink<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
Texas Central<\/strong>
\n\"\u274c\"\u00a0Standalone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What you need to know:\u00a0Despite the...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72622"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72624,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72622\/revisions\/72624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}