Eventually, the "higher-speed" corridors could be upgraded to true high-speed service, with separate tracks and signal systems.
The designated corridors:
Florida. Now aiming to be a true high-speed corridor, with 168-m.p.h. trains operating between Tampa and Orlando, with an extension planned to Miami. Estimated cost: $3.2 billion for the first leg; $11.5 billion for the entire project.
Status: Florida received $1.25 billion for the project from the Obama administration's $8 billion grant of stimulus funds.
The state already owns the land for tracks in the middle of I-4. The project may go to bid by the end of 2010, and construction of the first leg could be completed by 2014. Critics note the line would go to downtown Tampa but not to Tampa's airport, and to Orlando's airport but not to downtown Orlando, limiting its usefulness.
California. Planning to be a true high-speed corridor, with 220-m.p.h. service between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Estimated cost: $45 billion.
Planned extensions would include San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento, and Las Vegas.
Status: California received $2.5 billion of the $8 billion in stimulus funds. That grant requires the state to begin construction on the project by late 2012 and to have at least one segment running by 2017.
California voters in 2008 approved $9.9 billion for the project. Initial environmental studies have been completed.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority in May selected Roelof van Ark as its new chief executive. Van Ark was president of Alstom Transportation, the North American subsidiary of the French company that makes the TGV and AGV high-speed trains and hopes to build them for the United States.
