Local Government

High-Speed Rail Authority Issues Draft 2024 Business Plan for Public Review and Comment

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The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) today issued its draft 2024 Business Plan for public review and comment. The draft 2024 Business Plan reaffirms the Authority’s goal of advancing a clean, electrified high-speed rail in California.

The plan discusses major program progress in Northern California, the Central Valley, and Southern California, as well as updates on federal funding, ridership, and construction status. It also maintains cost and schedules from the 2023 Project Update Report, released 11 months ago.

Highlights between the 2023 Project Update Report and this draft 2024 Business Plan include:

  • The Authority was awarded $3.3 billion in new federal funds to advance the work on the initial operating segment between Merced and Bakersfield.
  • The Authority is advancing necessary procurements to move the project from construction into operations, including purchasing electrified trains and designing the tracks and systems needed for passenger service.
  • The first construction package (CP 4) covering 22.5 miles in the Central Valley reached substantial completion.
  • The Authority’s construction jobs exceeded 12,200 in 2023 and set records for the number of daily workers on the job sites.
  • The designs for the extensions to Merced and Bakersfield, as well as the four Central Valley stations, are on schedule, meeting contract milestones for 2023.

With the release of today’s draft business plan, the Authority Board of Directors will review the plan and seek input as part of a 60-day public comment period that starts today and closes at 5 p.m. on April 9. The Authority is providing the following options for submitting comments:

  • Online comment form through the Draft 2024 Business Plan website at:
  • By email at:
  • U.S. mail to the Authority:
    • California High-Speed Rail Authority
    • Attn: Draft 2024 Business Plan
    • 770 L Street, Suite 1180
    • Sacramento, CA 95814
  • Provide public comment at the upcoming Board of Directors Meeting within the public comment period virtually or in person on February 29, 2024, in Sacramento.

The Authority has begun work to extend the 119 miles currently under construction to 171 miles of future electrified high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield.

There are more than 25 active construction sites in California’s Central Valley, with the Authority having also fully environmentally cleared 422 miles of the high-speed rail program from the Bay Area to Los Angeles County.

The following link contains recent video, animations, photography, press center resources, and latest renderings: https://hsra.box.com/s/vyvjv9hckwl1dk603ju15u07fdfir2q8

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11 replies »

  1. High Speed Rail trains will travel no faster than Amtrak or Metrolink for much of the
    Route between LA and Anaheim. HSR passengers could easily transfer to existing trains at Union Station in LA to reach OC, removing the necessity for additional infrastructure (albeit, more frequent Metrolink would be necessary). The only reason HSR would terminate in Anaheim instead of LA is a one ticket ride to Disneyland.

    • Agreed: A HighSpeedRail stop in Anaheim would be pointless. (This is NOT a complaint) You ever notice how (in OrangeCounty), the tracks (seemingly counter-intuitively) don’t go straight, but dips :inland: to hit: Fullerton?

      • You people love transit, no matter how illogical and expensive. Better check with Ahmad next time before you call anything related to government waste as pointless.

    • I have absolutely no problem with bringing the train down to Anaheim. It will allow seamless, transferless travel down to Anaheim and will make it easy for long-distance passengers to visit OC and spend money here.

      No one ever whines about yet another freeway widening project, but talk about building a single train line and they lose their minds as if the world is coming to an end.

      • I meant more that: it’d be pointless for a :HighSpeedRail stop: in Anaheim, as the MetroLink/Amtrak already make stops throughout OC.

        • One benefit of going directly to Anaheim is that long-distance tourists wouldn’t have to transfer at Union Station along with all their luggage. They would also not have to juggle potentially disparate schedules between HSR and Metrolink/Amtrak. HSR will run multiple trains per hour from early morning to late night, whereas Metrolink/Amtrak run trains several hours apart, mainly during typical commute hours. Metrolink claims to plan to increase frequency, but I see no hard evidence of that actually happening. So, either you have people transfer, with all their luggage, at LAUS, potentially waiting several hours for the next train, just go to the last 30 miles, or you deliver them directly to ARTIC. The former option can be burdensome enough to tip the balance in favor of driving from NorCal to SoCal (I deal with a similar choice all the time due to Metrolink’s absurdly limited schedule). I support the latter option.

          • Howzit Amy! **Please do NOT get it twisted: I do NOT intend to be argumentative. Asking questions just helps me better understand the matter. Thank, in advanced, for helping me get a better grasp of understanding**

            As a frequent user of PublicTransportation, I fully get it and have witnessed the UnionStation confusion. However, I still feel that the point of the HighSpeedRail, is to connect A B (SF-LA/Northern-Southern California). Having a stop in OC would be like having stops throughout the BayArea, rather than just in SF (Richmond, Oakland, Sacramento, etc.); and using BART to get to the arterial extremities.

            I’m all for MetroLink/Amtrak :increasing: frequency, as the current timetable is…limited.

            I am a: utilitarian. OpportunityCost is a MASSIVE deciding-factor for me. Again, I get what you’re saying (Re: Cumbersome DISincentivization). However, it’s like the City’s taxcode: Our HotelOccupancyTax is relatively low (compared to neighboring cities). To my understanding, this was done to :incentivize: folks to stay in Fullerton (vs. say: Anaheim). However, I don’t feel it’s incentive enough to justify the lost revenue. Have the hotels within the CityLimits experienced an influx of guests? (I’m kinda guessing, no…hence NOT worth the lost revenue.)

            Again, thank you, in advanced, for your input and helping my understanding!

      • True about freeways. The more they are widened the more cars appear to fill the lanes.

        I don’t care if HSR terminates in OC or LA, but I do wonder if the additional infrastructure needed is worth it. If I understood the HSR staff correctly during a virtual town hall recently, the entire (newly built) Buena Park station would have to be demolished accommodate the new line?

        • It’s laughable when people pretend induced demand doesn’t apply just as much to bicycle/ped infrastructure as it does to car infrastructure.

          I have attended a few CA HSR open houses recently but I have not heard that about BP station. However, if I missed that information, I am open to being corrected.

          • …entirely why we need: Better bicycle infrastructure.

            “If you build it, they will come.” And you’re right. SaysLaw applies to bicycles/pedestrians, just the same as it does to cars.

            …and REALLY?! (Re: BPStation) Still scratching my head over this. I feel like there would be WAAAY more Public resistance if “the entire (newly built) Buena Park station would have to be demolished to accommodate the new line?”