California works with Amtrak to make high-speed rail

The sleek animation shows what high-speed rail travel in California could look like in 20 years or so. Trains moving at up to 220 miles an hour would passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in just two hours and 40 minutes. / CBS News/CA High-Speed Rail Authority

WASHINGTON The two biggest players in the nation's pursuit of high-speed rail said Thursday they'll work together to search for trains that will operate at up to 220 miles per hour along both coasts of the United States.

Officials with Amtrak and the California High-Speed Rail Authority said they envision that the two systems will purchase about 60 trains over the next decade. The first order could take place next year.

The aim is for manufacturers to design trains that will work for both systems. In the process, their combined buying power should generate better pricing from manufacturers.

"By combining our buying power, potentially, we can drive the market in a way that we can't if we purchase separately," said Jeff Morales, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

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California is expected to begin construction on its high-speed rail in the summer. The first 65-mile segment will run from Merced to Fresno.

The high-speed rail efforts in California have come under increased scrutiny by members of Congress who say it has become too expensive to build and operate. The more ties it has with Amtrak, the better its future prospects might be, but officials said the announcement was not designed to bolster high-speed rail in California.

"It doesn't make any sense whatsoever to go out and have a different set of standards for California or any other high-speed train," said Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman. "So, no, it's about doing the right thing for the United States."

Morales said the high-speed line that would serve California has much in common with Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in terms of population, traffic congestion and economic output.

"If the case is there for investing in the Northeast, that same case can be made for the West Coast and California. We think there's very good reason to look at them as a pair," Morales said. "That's something we're talking to Amtrak about, to align our interests where it makes senses to align them."

[DarkHawk98]

micmac666

Of the 19 quakes you list, only one was strong enough to be felt by those of us who live on the surface of the planet in the state of California. That felt quake had a magnitude of 3.1 and was centered near Redlands which is a suburb of San Bernardino. Redlands is approximately 80 miles from downtown Los Angeles. I live near Sacramento (400 miles to the north)and felt none of them. The magnitude of those quakes was very small.

[rivey4]

I can't imagine where we would be if everyone said....it's not going to work so let's not even try it. There are plenty of things we've tried that proved to be a bad idea but we tried. But then there are the successes. Open heart surgery, airplanes, automobiles, Personal computers, super computers, space travel, nuclear power, electricity, remotely piloted vehicles, photography, television, the telephone, FedEx, UPS, robotics, the Internet, cell phones, GPS, pasteurization, synthetic rubber, steel and metal alloys, fiber optics. An endless list of things that we could have said...who needs that...it will never work and it cost too much so let's stick with stone arrowheads and flint stones. I hope it succeeds.

[KansasCity-2012]

Good Luck! I hope they succeed.

Texas sold licenses to private investors who wanted to do the same thing, but wouldn't use the power of imminent domain to commission the land needed, so the investors got duped.

[warner0683]

The top speed is too low. Building these trains in the NE and California is the only places that might makes sense. I hope the trains they choose are hydrogen powered and a number of nuclear power plants are built to generate the electricity to convert water into oxygen and hydrogen.

[djberson]

What happened to Acela? I was going to take a pretty common route from NYC to DC. MAN WHAT A RIPOFF!!! $260? I don't think so, when I can take the bus for $15.

[phil8192]

Well, that should be interesting. Amtrak has been a perennial money loser, propped up by the American taxpayer. California High Speed Rail is predicted to be a BIG money loser, propped up by California taxpayers from now until doomsday. It's nothing but pork for the labor unions, Democratic Party corruption from the get-go as far as the eye can see. According to surveys, maybe 1 in 100 Californians will ever ride the Train to Nowhere, because it won't stop where people live goes where most people don't need to go, and a ride will cost more than most people can afford. Besides, the airlines already serve that transportation niche far more economically and efficiently.

Yep, California High Speed Rail can learn a LOT from Amtrak!

[mmelling1]

Phil, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Yes, Amtrak loses money overall. However, it does make money in the North East, for example, where it can offer a "high-speed" service high-speed being 80mph on average.

High-speed rail has already been built in a dozen countries, with many more on the way. It's 50 year old technology that works.

[micmac666]

Will we schedule the earthquakes around the train schedule or vice versa?

[MDPA123]

Ya! Japan has more EQs than USA and they run trains at 300mph Read a bit, use Google.

[micmac666]

Dear MD,
Japan has been lucky, so don't jinx it. It doesn't take much to tweak a rail. Below is a recent sampling. You're welcome.

1.8 2013/01/16 19:53:05 34.081N 118.083W 11.1 2 km ( 1 mi) SE of San Gabriel, CA
1.7 2013/01/16 19:16:17 34.013N 117.127W 12.7 6 km ( 4 mi) SE of Redlands, CA
1.3 2013/01/16 18:29:23 34.012N 117.128W 12.0 7 km ( 4 mi) SE of Redlands, CA
1.5 2013/01/16 18:14:54 34.012N 117.126W 12.8 7 km ( 4 mi) SE of Redlands, CA
3.1 2013/01/16 18:10:02 34.008N 117.130W 13.9 7 km ( 4 mi) SE of Redlands, CA
1.9 2013/01/16 17:47:36 34.031N 117.232W 17.6 3 km ( 2 mi) SE of Loma Linda, CA
1.9 2013/01/16 14:03:22 34.446N 117.945W 11.1 21 km (13 mi) SE of Palmdale, CA
1.9 2013/01/15 21:13:10 34.164N 117.496W 5.4 8 km ( 5 mi) NW of Fontana, CA
2.1 2013/01/15 17:29:08 34.054N 117.263W 14.5 1 km ( 1 mi) WNW of Loma Linda, CA
0.9 2013/01/14 18:09:13 33.982N 117.176W 13.4 8 km ( 5 mi) S of Redlands, CA
1.2 2013/01/14 17:01:37 33.804N 117.136W 18.4 3 km ( 2 mi) NNE of Perris, CA
1.1 2013/01/14 10:50:15 33.996N 117.208W 15.2 7 km ( 4 mi) SE of Loma Linda, CA
1.8 2013/01/13 18:50:51 34.514N 118.830W 7.2 15 km (10 mi) NNE of Fillmore, CA
2.9 2013/01/13 06:26:28 34.049N 117.280W 18.0 2 km ( 2 mi) W of Loma Linda, CA
1.2 2013/01/12 23:18:54 34.340N 118.479W 1.7 6 km ( 4 mi) SE of Newhall, CA
0.9 2013/01/12 18:21:07 34.243N 117.433W 14.6 4 km ( 2 mi) NW of Devore, CA
2.4 2013/01/11 23:28:54 34.099N 117.316W 17.3 2 km ( 1 mi) WSW of San Bernardino, CA
1.1 2013/01/11 22:35:50 34.528N 118.159W 11.5 7 km ( 4 mi) SW of Palmdale, CA
1.6 2013/01/11 11:08:05 33.992N 118.511W 6.5 4 km ( 2 mi) SSW of Santa Monica, CA