California High-Speed Rail Investment Generates $22B in Economic Activity

The Economic Impact Analysis Report highlights the project’s role in stimulating economic growth, according to the report. 99% of the project’s FY2023-2024 expenditures have gone to California businesses, “with two out of every three dollars going to disadvantaged communities.”

Authority Chief Financial Officer Jamey Matalka said, “The benefits of investing in a high-speed rail system continue to ripple through the California economy. This project is creating meaningful partnerships and jobs, lifting up disadvantaged communities and supporting greenhouse gas reduction goals.”

The project has created an estimated 109,000 job-years of employment and more than $8 billion in total labor income earned by those working on the project. The Authority also estimates the service from Merced to Bakersfield, when completed, will result in 333,000 job-years of employment and a total economic activity of $70.3 billion. The build-out of the 494-mile Phase 1 System between San Francisco and Los Angeles by way of the underway Central Valley section would create 1,034,000 job-years of employment and a total economic activity of $221.8 billion.

A fact sheet of the economic impact can be found below:

Earlier, RT&S reported on the beginning of the railhead project in Kern County. This project is a major step “in the track and systems process and signifies the next phase of the high-speed rail program.” The project includes the installation of temporary freight tracks to transport materials needed for future electrified, high-speed tracks. The project comes after the completion of Construction Package 4 which includes 22 miles and 11 structures.