Turns out private businesses are really interested in high-speed rail, regardless of what Florida Governor Rick Scott claimed when he thwarted the project in his own state. In fact, over 1,100 large and small businesses have expressed a desire to fund California’s bullet train, including building, planning and operating the system at large.
California High-Speed Rail Authority got the submissions after it requested that firms put their interests in writing. The train in the state will connect San Francisco to southern California and is expected to go an average of about 220 miles per hour.
The magnitude of the response makes it obvious that the private sector sees high-speed rail as a huge opportunity, reinforcing the notion that the incoming Republican governors in Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida declined federal stimulus funds for high-speed rail in their states largely for political reasons than for any economic ones. All three governors claimed that they didn’t want tax payers to have to pay for any potential cost overruns that could have occurred. However, Florida already had several private businesses express keen interest in the project, before it was shot down.
So far, California’s rail system has received $5.5 billion from the federal government, while the state’s voters approved an additional $10 billion in bonds for the project. The line is estimated to cost about $43 billion and the rest of the money is expected to come from private investors.
As we’ve argued several times before, building high-speed rail is an excellent way to create jobs, reduce air pollution and make people more mobile.
Study after study have also shown that most people will use HSR if the option was given to them. Well, at least people on the west coast will have one.
Interested businesses will meet in Los Angeles next month to take the process further.
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