Waiting for a Speeding Bullet (Train)

Sept. 27, 2008— -- A century and a half after California built its first railroad, the Golden State may be about to launch the most ambitious rail project undertaken by any state: a nearly 800-mile system of bullet trains that can top 200 mph.

On Nov. 4, California voters will decide whether to authorize the sale of $9.9 billion in state bonds to help pay for a 465-mile high-speed rail line linking Anaheim, Los Angeles, Fresno and San Francisco. Planners say it would be the first leg of a system that would complement air travel and eventually include stations in Sacramento, San Diego and Oakland.

Planners say the first trains could be running within six years in some corridors and that the entire 800 miles of track could be completed by 2020 if sufficient financing is available.

"This is the next big thing that's going to transform the state," said the project's executive director, Mehdi Morshed, a former state bridge engineer who likens high-speed rail to construction of the transcontinental railroad and California's freeway system. "I think this will be the beginning of a very big transformation in transportation, not only in California but the nation."

A Field Poll taken in July found that 56 percent of likely voters supported the bond measure, Proposition 1a, and 30 percent opposed it. The telephone survey of 672 likely voters had a maximum sampling error of plus or minus 5.6 percent.

So far, no opposition group has surfaced to pay for a campaign against the proposition.

"We thought about it," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, who signed ballot arguments against the proposition. "I checked the cushions behind the sofa and couldn't find $500,000 to jump-start the campaign."

The measure's supporters had raised more than $580,000, most of it from construction and engineering companies, by Sept. 23, far below what they hope to take in.

Despite the lack of organized opposition, the project faces some potential problems that could weaken support.