California to receive $2.35 billion stimulus for rail and High-Speed Rail

Obama is set to announce tomorrow a whopping $2.35 billion in federal funds dedicated to improving intercity transit infrastructure in California. Here's what California's getting, according to Robert Cruickshank's comprehensive California High Speed Rail Blog:

• $2.25 billion for high speed rail funding in the SF-SJ, Merced-Fresno-Bakersfield, and LA-Anaheim corridors, as well as for Phase I planning. There is some debate about whether these are specifically programmed to each corridor, or whether Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and/or the CHSRA will determine the final allocations.

• $99.4 million for other passenger rail projects, including:

Capitol Corridor-South Terminal Station Improvement
Capitol Corridor-YoloXover (Yolo West Crossover)
Capitol Corridor-Track Relocation
Pacific Surfliner -Railroad Crossover Program
Pacific Surfliner – Oceanside Stub Project 1
Pacific Surfliner Corridor-MOW Spurs
Los Angeles to Fullerton Triple Track
Pacific Surfliner Corridor-PE NEPA Ortega
Pacific Surfliner -Corridor Strategic Assessment
Rolling Stock-Locomotive Emissions Upgrade (including San Joaquins)
Rolling Stock-Cab Car Bicycle Storage

...AND A NEW CAR!!!! (literally. train cars.)

What's excellent is that this will make Orange County's rail service more reliable. Both Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink's Inland Empire-Orange County Line and Orange County Line will benefit from "new track and crossovers [that] will improve on-time performance and ultimately allow for top speeds of 110 mph on the segment connecting Los Angeles and San Diego," according to the White House press fact sheet.

I'm personally excited about this because both Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink services suffer delays due to inadequate track space. This also will boost the visibility of quality public transit to the general public and spur more transit-oriented development.

The catch is that this still isn't enough money yet. According to the Fresno Bee:

But the state still has to raise billions of dollars more to finish the Anaheim-to-San Francisco first phase, estimated to cost $42.6 billion.

The authority has a $9 billion voter-approved bond at its disposal, but is counting on matching the money with up to $19 billion in federal money by 2016, according to a recent review of the plan by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, which called that expectation “highly uncertain.” Additional money would come from private and local investments.