California High Speed Rail

I saw an interesting article in the Fresno Bee Sunday. Tim Sheehan's piece, "China Eyes Calif. Rail System," told about the strong likelihood there will be Chinese financing for California's high speed rail endeavor.

We definitely need this capacity. I've ridden such trains in Britain and France. They go at least 200 miles per hour while trains here chug along at 60, at best. A friend who's recently been in China says returning to the U.S. is like going back in time. For distances under about 1,000 miles HSRs make train travel more convenient than going by air, once you factor in all the time and rigmarole at airports these days. They're also surpassingly more energy and environmentally friendly.

The numbers work out like this: California's 800-mile system will cost $43 billion. The state's voters approved a $9.9 billion bond in 2008. The federal government is expected to put in another $17 billion to $19 billion from Obama stimulus moneys. That leaves a gap of $14 billion to $16 billion to come from other sources.

Companies such as Alstom (France), Siemens (Germany) and Hyundai Rotem (South Korea) with experience in high speed railways in their home countries are already preparing bids. Wang Zhigou, Chinese vice minister of railways, said recently there will be bids from China too. With their cash surpluses and government subsidies the Chinese outfits are expected to have a heavy edge in the competition.

There are "buy American" provisions in the U.S. funding bills, so what the foreign contractors will be providing are technology and operating expertise. It seems we are now the third world nation, needing the advanced countries to help us fund, build and operate a modern transportation infrastructure. Still, it is something we definitely need to do. Shortsighted states such as New Jersey and Wisconsin that have turned down federal dollars to start their own lines will suffer the consequences in the future.