2008年，加州人同意花90亿元兴建美国第一条高速铁路，经由中央山谷，南加北加可以在160分钟内往来。但是15年过去了，期待中的高铁仍在施工中，预期完工的时间一再延后，原本以为2028年洛杉矶奥运能够通车，但是期盼2030年通车可能比较实际。面对越来越高的民意期待，所有人都想问高铁过不去的坎到底在哪？
这项雄心勃勃的基础设施项目，连接洛杉矶和旧金山的500英哩的高速铁路系统，将使乘客在大约数小时内从一个城市抵达另一城市。但自从加州高铁管理局（High-Speed Rail Authority）在2015年首次动土动工以来，这一世纪工程一直受到法律挑战、施工延误和州府会领导人之间的分歧的困扰。同时，成本也急剧上升，整个系统的估计价格现在超过1000亿美元，与最初450亿美元的估计相差甚远。
●联邦金援15% 致建设龟速
加州高速铁路管理局北加区域主任Boris Lipkin在最近一场研讨会中就透露，高铁兴建至今，加州自筹资金占85%，联邦只占15%，「这个比例完全不对」，以40年前兴建的州际高速公路来说，联邦出了90%的经费，各州政府只需负担10%，除非联邦愿意出钱，否则高铁只能龟速前进。
Boris Lipkin还指出，美国与欧洲、亚洲已建高铁的各国相比，联邦从来没有把高铁当成首要目标。交通倡议人士Carter Lavin也出席了这场由Streetsblog基金会主办的研讨会，他同意Boris Lipkin的看法，并强调既然联邦政府看重气候变迁，百分之百使用可再生能源的加州高铁就应该取得优先权，因为建成之后五年、十年，甚至30年，减碳的效果一定会出现，联邦不能只顾眼前。
主持人Roger Rudick也说，国家领袖的政治决心至为关键，甘迺迪总统在1962年承诺十年内登月，只花了六年就把太空人送上月球；同样地，联系两大洋的横贯铁道启建时，美国还在内战呢，经济压力绝对不低，但最后还是在1869年贯通。他说，既然中国能在15年内完成2万5000哩的铁道铺设，世界最强的国家没道理花了15年还完成不了加州高铁。
●全球碳排最低运输案
洛杉矶KTLA报导，中谷预定的171哩高铁轨道，已有119哩正在施工，同时施工的工地达30个，显示加州高铁进度虽然缓慢，但还是有进展。另外，加州高铁局在2023年8月24日宣布，正式展开车辆招标，申请时间至10月31日，2024年第一季定案。承造商应于2028年送达两列测试用列车，其余四列在2030年交货。
高铁局指出，以时速220哩、极速242哩运作的列车将能实现美国的高铁梦。高铁局自家网站也强调，兴建完成的加州高铁不仅施工过程减碳、少垃圾，营运后的列车也将全部使用干净能源，因此这项工程将是全球碳排总量最低的公共运输方案。
虽然南北贯通的高铁还有很多困难，特别是大量的隧道工程，但是完工后的经济、社会效益却很大，首先就是减碳，其次是真正实现可负担住房。道理很简单，原本住在中谷650万人，不必长途驾驶到南北加上班，碳排自然减少；而且靠着高铁通勤，会让更多人能够搬到房价低的地区，不必再在都会区咬牙过活。
Could the California High-Speed Rail be completed in the next 5 years?
by: Travis Schlepp
California High-Speed Rail, the most ambitious public transportation project in the state’s history, is still miles away from being completed, despite decades of discussion and nearly ten years of construction.
Progress has kicked up in recent years as environmental hurdles were cleared, and the High-Speed Rail Authority hopes to have the Central Valley segment, which will connect Merced to Bakersfield, completed by 2030 (give or take).
But what would it take to get the entire project — Bay Area to Los Angeles — completed even sooner? Maybe as soon as 2028, in time for the Olympics?
That’s what industry experts and activists met to discuss Wednesday evening during an online forum hosted by Streetsblog, an urban planning news and information website that focuses on transit and public safety.
While it might sound like a pipe dream, those in attendance for Wednesday’s roundtable discussion argue it could be done, albeit with a massive amount of cooperation and significant buy-in from the federal government.
Roger Rudick, editor at Streetsblog San Francisco and the moderator for the panel, argued that there is a long history of major public projects being conceived, planned and completed within much smaller timeframes.
“In 1962, President Kennedy said, ‘We will go to the moon before the decade is out.’ Six years later, humans traveled to the moon, and a year after that they walked on the moon,” Rudick said in his opening remarks. “The Transcontinental Railroad was built in six years. And they started construction during the Civil War. I would say that’s a pretty big socio-economic challenge for starting a big project.”
Rudick added that China was able to complete 25,000 miles of rail in the last 15 years, so there is plenty of precedent for one of the world’s superpowers to build a comparatively minuscule amount of rail in a similar timeframe.
So what’s standing in the way?
Boris Lipkin is the Northern California Regional Director of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Appointed to the position by former California Governor Jerry Brown, and re-appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, he oversees the project between San Francisco and Merced County.
Lipkin says there’s a lot to juggle with such a massive undertaking, including working with municipalities, utility companies and environmental requirements.
He says the Authority faces hundreds and sometimes thousands of different “veto points” during construction, including blackout windows for construction, third parties being affected by the construction, and even competition with Burlington Northern Santa Fe – the nation’s largest freight rail company – which has the ability to pause construction during some of the busiest shipping months.
“There’s permitting, and other things that all kind of add up to the narrowing of construction windows of when you can actually do work,” Lipkin said, adding that the Authority is also trying to build while maintaining California’s “values,” including protecting prior rights and endangered species.
Rendering of the signature arches of the San Joaquin River Viaduct north of the city of Fresno. (California High-Speed Rail Authority)
He says almost all of the major environmental reviews have been completed, with the sole outlier being the segment between Palmdale and Burbank, and the Authority plans to have that completed by the end of the year.
In the meantime, construction is being done in the segments of the massive project that have already been approved. Meaningful progress has been made when dealing with the rail’s right-of-way and important infrastructure projects, including bridges and overpasses, have been completed throughout the Central Valley in preparation for the line’s eventual opening.
So the project is moving along, albeit at its own pace.
Major challenges are still on the horizon, including boring out tunnels for the rail, which, when completed, will be the longest rail tunnels in the U.S. The equipment needed for that crucial part of the rail system has a long lead time, Lipkin said.
But the Authority has also said that the enormous amount of work needed to get it done in an abbreviated window could be a bigger load than California’s various construction companies could handle.
“So we’re talking about some pretty big, big numbers,” Lipkin said. “It’s a question of, ‘Can that level of construction happen in that kind of timeframe?'”
Essentially, even if the project was fully funded, would there be enough labor to do it?
Carter Lavin, a transportation activist and political organizer, countered that that’s simply not a good enough reason to stick with the slower timeline.
“Labor shortages are a very common thing that happen across the board in every sector,” Lavin said. “There are people in other parts of the United States who would absolutely love to come to California and do the work.”
Rendering of a high-speed train in the Pacheco Pass. (California High-Speed Rail Authority)
Ultimately, though, Lipkin says it’s not a matter of will standing in the way of an early completion point, but rather, a lack of funding – an issue that has plagued the project since its inception.
Both Lipkin and the transit advocates who gathered to discuss an accelerated timeline concluded that an early completion would require the federal government to step in and help cover a significant portion of the bill.
“Out of the funding that we have so far, about 85% of that has come from the State of California, and 15% has come from the federal government,” Lipkin said. “When we did the highway system over thirty, forty years of highway construction, those ratios were reversed. So the federal government was 80 to 90% and state governments supported it with about 10% of the needed funding.”
California is doing its best to cover the costs, and Lipkin believes the project can be completed with the state footing the majority of the bill, but if Californians want the High-Speed Rail completed sooner, the federal government would have to chip in significantly more.
In agreement, Lavin argued that California’s economy and taxes contribute so much to the federal government, and in response, Washington should make the project a priority, especially as the current administration stares down the barrel of a climate emergency.
“The number one source of carbon emissions in California is cars,” Lavin said. “So when we’re connecting tens of millions of people with high-speed rail, when we’re connecting the 6.5 million people who live in the Central Valley with a high-speed rail, this will offset so much, this will get so many cars off the road.”
Making rail a priority is a challenge that the Authority says starts with changing mindsets.
“The differences between us and Europe, or Asia in this regard, is that, in many ways, high-speed rail projects are sort of the largest projects that governments usually undertake,” Lipkin said. “And in other parts of the world, that becomes sort of these national priorities in a way that I don’t think we’ve penetrated yet.”
One reason that other nations prioritize rail – tradition.
“In many cases in Europe, certainly there is a deep tradition of passenger rail ridership,” said Eric Eidlin, Station Planning Manager for the City of San Jose and an educator at San Jose State University. “There was always this sense that, you know, riding the train is a really important way to connect places and to get around.”
Aerial rendering of the Cedar Viaduct. (California High-Speed Rail Authority)
Eidlin added that completion of the expansive project should be treated with more urgency due to the implications of a possible “climate apocalypse,” with record-breaking temperatures across the globe driven by climate change.
“This project will take a long time to build, so the payoff will be in the long-term, but I do think we do need to be thinking on that time horizon, you know, it’s not just about the greenhouse gas emissions in 5, 10 years, but in 30 years, and how are we setting ourselves up for the future long-term?”
In addition to any carbon-reducing benefits, Lavin urged those who were looking to become more informed about the High-Speed Rail project to think of it as more than just a transportation undertaking.
“I think most Californians can barely afford rent, I think most Californians are worried about putting food on the table, most Californians are struggling. And I think an important part is the high-speed rail is going to help them,” Lavin said. “When we talk about job access … having a hard time affording rent, frankly speaking, the high-speed rail project is, in a sense, one of California’s biggest bit of affordable housing infrastructures going on.”
He urged listeners and supporters of the project who want to see it be completed sooner to call their local representatives, Gov. Newsom’s office, and any of the candidates for the upcoming California Senate election and urge them to support the project and advocate for additional federal funding.
Lipkin said support for the High-Speed Rail project has only grown since it was first approved by voters in 2008. In a recent poll by UC Berkeley, support for the project was about 20 percentage points higher than the percentage of people who were against it.
“I think California is pretty united in wanting to see this project happen,” Lipkin said, acknowledging that questions remain about how fast it can be completed. “The support is there, and we were very lucky to have that, because there’s no way to move something like this forward without very, very strong support. And we certainly have that across the board.”
The longer the project takes to complete, the more expensive it will become, experts say, and whether or not the project has the support of everyone in the state, it’s officially reached the “point of no return,” Lipkin said.
The California High-Speed Rail is coming, if not in five years, then a few years later. It’s up to its supporters to make an accelerated timeline a reality.
