Major Cities: San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland), Sacramento, Merced, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Diego

Overview: California is pursuing continued improvements to existing passenger rail corridor services and a new high-speed rail (HSR) system. Since the 1980s, the State of California and Amtrak have made significant investments in equipment and facilities to develop three passenger rail corridor services: the San Joaquins (Bay Area/Sacramento–Central Valley, with bus connections to L.A.); Capitols (San Jose–Oakland–Sacramento–Auburn); and Pacific Surfliners (San Luis Obispo–L.A.–San Diego). In 2008, total intercity ridership on California's State-supported corridor trains–at 5.5 million–accounted for one fifth of Amtrak's passenger-trips nationwide. A strategic plan was prepared for improvement of the Pacific Surfliner Corridor from Los Angles to San Diego eventually to speeds of up to 110 mph.

New HSR System: California is developing a new, electrically powered, HSR system of 800 miles serving major population centers from San Francisco and Sacramento to Los Angeles and San Diego. Such a system would operate at sustained speeds of 220 mph over much of its length on dedicated rights of way except for access to certain urban areas (e.g. San Jose – San Francisco.) Phase 1 involves San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim.

Status: The HSR Programmatic (Tier 1) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is complete. Site-specific EIS and preliminary engineering is underway for Phase 1. Also, a Tier I EIS has also been completed for conventional improvements to the Los Angeles to San Diego Pacific Surfliner corridor. An EIS and preliminary engineering are in an advanced stage for run-through tracks at L.A. Union Station to enhance Pacific Surfliner service. More information about environmental review processes is is available at the current environmental reviews page .

Las Vegas Extension:   On July 2, 2009, U.S. transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced extension of the California high-speed rail corridor to Las Vegas, Nevada.

California Contacts
Organization	Personal Contact	Topics
California Dept of Transportation Division of Rail - MS 74 1120 N Street, Rm 3400 P.O. Box 942874 Sacramento, CA 94274-0001	William Bronte Chief, Division of Rail Tel: 916-654-5770 Cell: 916-653-4572 Fax. 916-843-4624 bill_bronte@dot.ca.gov	Amtrak; passenger and freight rail service; grade crossing and infrastructure improvements
California High Speed Rail Authority 925 L Street, Suite 1425 Sacramento, CA 95814 www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov	Mehdi Morshed Executive Director Tel: 916-324-1541 Fax. 916-322-0827 mmorshed@hsr.ca.gov	A new high-speed train system linking San Diego and Los Angeles in the South with Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area in the North.