High-Speed Rail at a Glance
Northern California
California is building a high-speed rail system to connect the megaregions of the state and transform how people travel. More than $1.6 billion of Proposition 1A funds and other California High-Speed Rail Authority funding are supporting investments in Northern California, including $714 million to Caltrain’s Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project.
HIGH-SPEED RAIL WILL provide clean, modern transportation for the millions of Northern California residents and will help tie the state’s economies together like never before. In Northern California, the system will have stations in San Francisco, Millbrae, San José, and Gilroy that will connect with BART, Caltrain, Amtrak, ACE and other regional rail and transit options.
Addressing the Issues
Curbing Air Traffic Congestion
- SFO to LAX is the busiest short-haul market in the nation
- 1 in 5 flights out of the Bay Area is headed to the Los Angeles Area
Traffic [1]
- San Francisco ranks as the third-worst congested city in the world
- San Francisco drivers averaged 79 hours sitting in traffic during peak hours every year
- Traffic jams cost drivers $2,250 and the City of San Francisco $10.6 billion in 2017
Access to More Affordable Housing
- The average home price in the San Francisco Metro Area is now more than $900,000[2]
- The average home price in Fresno County is approximately $240,000[3]
- High-speed rail can allow the Silicon Valley to continue to flourish by relieving some of the housing pressure by reducing travel times to the Central Valley.
Sections & Stations
In September 2019, the Board of Directors identified the Preferred Alternatives for the San Francisco to San José and San José to Merced project sections. Within the next two years, environmental clearance will be complete, setting the stage for pre-construction activities to begin.
Explore below for details on high-speed rail project sections and current station planning and development in Northern California. The Authority continues to work with local partners to develop station area plans based around proposed high‑speed rail centers.
Get The Facts
Myth: The Authority is not making progress in the Northern California Project Sections.
Fact:
The Authority recently achieved its most significant milestone in Northern California with the release of the EIR/EIS Draft Environmental Document for the San José to Merced Project Section.
The Authority released the EIR/EIS Draft Environmental Document for the San Francisco to San José Project Section in July, marking the second most significant milestone in the effort to extend the project from San Francisco to San José.
Myth: There is a lack of funding necessary to complete the San Francisco to San José extension.
Fact:
Based on the Draft 2020 Business Plan that will ultimately be adopted by the State Legislature, the Authority has identified existing funds required to complete the San Francisco to San José extension.
Myth: Work to electrify the Peninsula Corridor from San Francisco to San José has yet to begin.
Fact:
The electrification project, scheduled to be completed as early as 2021, has made significant progress in construction as foundations have been poured, poles have been erected and work begun on stringing the catenary system wires.
High-speed rail is supporting the project by providing $714 million as the extension will allow for high-speed rail to operate along the blended corridor.
Myth: There not an efficient level of planning to prepare San José’s Diridon Station for high-speed rail.
Fact:
Over the past year, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), the City of San José, Caltrain and the Authority have worked to develop the first phase of the Diridon Integrated Station Concept (DISC)-a shared vision for the future layout as an intermodal hub that integrates with the surrounding community and supports growth anticipated with Google’s transit-oriented village plan.
Myth: The Authority has yet to identify a site for a light-maintenance facility in the Northern California Project Section.
Fact:
In 2019, the Authority identified the East Brisbane light-maintenance facility as the preferred location, although the westside location was also identified as a possibility. The East site has been determined to be more compatible with planned land uses and would have fewer environmental impacts. Both options will be studied and evaluated in full in the Draft EIR/EIS that will be release this summer.
Want More Information?
Find more information about high-speed rail in California. From factsheets and regional newsletters, to maps and outreach events, get on board with the most up‑to‑date program information.
- INRIX 2017 Global Traffic Scorecard
- According to Zillow.com
- According to Zillow.com
As of 2018
The California High-Speed Rail Authority makes every effort to ensure the website and its contents meet mandated ADA requirements as per the California State mandated Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA standard. If you are looking for a particular document not located on the California High-Speed Rail Authority website, you may make a request for the document under the Public Records Act through the Public Records Act page. If you have any questions about the website or its contents, please contact the Authority at info@hsr.ca.gov.
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