California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system being developed in California by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Phase 1, about 494 miles (795 km) long, is planned to run from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim via the Central Valley.
As of July 2025, only the Initial Operating Segment (IOS) has advanced to construction. It is the middle section of the San Francisco–Los Angeles route and spans 35% of its total length. These 171 miles (275 km) in the Central Valley will connect Merced and Bakersfield. Revenue service on the IOS is projected to commence between 2031 and 2033 as a self-contained high-speed rail system, at a cost of $28–38.5 billion. With a top speed of 220 mph (350 km/h), CAHSR trains running along this section would be the fastest in the Americas.
The high-speed rail project was authorized by a 2008 statewide ballot to connect the state's major urban areas and reduce intercity travel times. Phase 1 envisions a one-seat ride between San Francisco and Los Angeles with a nonstop travel time of 2 hours and 40 minutes, compared to about nine hours today using a combination of buses, commuter trains, and the existing Amtrak San Joaquins. A proposed Phase 2 would extend the system north to Sacramento and south to San Diego, for a total system length of 776 miles (1,249 km).
Construction of the IOS as part of Phase 1 began in the Central Valley in 2015, with completion planned in 2020. From January 2015 to July 2025, a total of $14.4 billion had been spent on the project. The bulk of that sum was expended on constructing the IOS, with expected completion of civil construction on 119 miles (192 km) of guideway in December 2026. The first high-speed track is to be laid in 2026. Other project expenditures include upgrades to existing rail lines in the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles, where Phase 1 is planned to share tracks with conventional passenger trains. Regulatory clearance has been obtained for the full route connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, which includes the IOS. However, with a current price tag of $130 billion for the whole of Phase 1, the Authority has not yet received sufficient funding commitment to construct the segments from the IOS westwards to the Bay Area or southwards to Los Angeles, both of which would require tunneling through major mountain passes. As of April 2025, the High-Speed Rail Authority's intermediate goal is to connect Gilroy (70 miles south of San Francisco) to Palmdale (37 miles north of Los Angeles) by the year 2045, through partnership with private capital.
The project has been politically controversial. Supporters state that it would alleviate housing shortages and air traffic and highway congestion, reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and provide economic benefits by linking the state's inland regions to coastal cities. Opponents argue that the project is too expensive in principle, has lost control of cost and schedule, and that the budgetary commitment precludes other transportation or infrastructure projects in the state. The route choice has been controversial, along with the decision to construct the first high-speed segment in the Central Valley rather than in more heavily populated parts of the state. The project has experienced significant delays and cost overruns caused by management issues, legal challenges and permitting hold-ups, and inefficiencies from incomplete and piecemeal funding. California legislative overseers do not expect that the 2 hr 40 min target for revenue service between San Franciso and Los Angeles will be achieved.
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