California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) is a publicly-funded high-speed rail system under construction across California by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. The project was authorized by a 2008 statewide ballot, and is being constructed in two major phases. Phase 1, which is about long, will connect the Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area through the Central Valley communities. Upon completion, Phase 1 is required to provide a non-stop express connection between San Francisco and Los Angeles in two hours and 40 minutes. Phase 2 would extend the system north to Sacramento and south to San Diego, for a total system length of . With a top speed of , CAHSR trains would be the fastest in the U.S. and among the fastest in the world.
The Initial Operating Segment (IOS), a section of Phase 1 in the Central Valley that spans 35 percent of its total length, is the first segment that has advanced to construction, and will connect communities from Merced to Bakersfield, at a cost of $36.7 billion. Revenue service on the IOS is projected to commence in 2032.
Construction began in the Central Valley in 2015, and as of August 2025, a total of $13.8 billion had been spent on the project. The extension to Palmdale will connect the project to the Southland via the Metrolink system, while the Burbank-Los Angeles-Anaheim segment is constructed to complete the Phase I system.
The project has been politically controversial. Supporters state that it would alleviate housing shortages, air traffic and highway congestion, reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and provide economic benefits by linking the state's inland regions to coastal cities. Opponents argue that the project is too expensive in principle, has lost control of cost and schedule, and that the budgetary commitment precludes other transportation or infrastructure projects in the state. The route choice has been controversial, along with the decision to construct the first high-speed segment in the Central Valley rather than in more heavily populated parts of the state. The project has experienced significant delays and cost overruns caused by management issues, legal challenges and permitting hold-ups, and inefficiencies from inadequate and sporadic funding. The Authority has also faced notable delays in securing agreements to relocate utilities, such as power lines and water infrastructure. A state-appointed high-speed rail peer review group confirmed that the project may fall short of promises made to voters in several areas, including ridership and travel times. In 1982, Brown signed a bill authorizing $1.25 billion in bonds for a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Diego. In 1993, the state created the California Intercity High-Speed Rail Commission.
In 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger championed Proposition 1A (Prop 1A), which authorized $9 billion in bonds to begin the planning and construction of high-speed rail and a further $950 million to upgrade commuter rail systems in Northern and Southern California that would connect with the high-speed rail system. Prop 1A, which passed with about 53 percent of the vote, set several requirements for the high-speed rail system, including that the nonstop travel time from the Salesforce Transit Center (formerly: San Francisco Transbay Terminal) in San Francisco to Los Angeles Union Station in Los Angeles should be no more than two hours and 40 minutes. The designation of the San Francisco to Los Angeles segment as "Phase 1," and additional adopted corridors as "Phase 2," was published in the Authority's 2012 Business Plan.
Statewide objectives
The planned high-speed rail system would reduce travel times between the northern and southern parts of the state. Driving or taking an intercity bus between San Francisco and Los Angeles takes six to eight hours. Since the Coast Daylight was discontinued in 1974, there has been no direct rail connection between San Francisco and Los Angeles, with the closest Amtrak service now in Oakland. The Amtrak Coast Starlight, the only direct rail service from Oakland to Los Angeles, takes eleven hours and runs once daily. While the Gold Runner takes about nine hours, a bus transfer is required for part of the route. High-speed rail is intended to be competitive with air travel; while the actual station-to-station time would be slower than flying, reduced waiting and boarding times and fewer security checks would make total travel times competitive, with other potential benefits including passenger comfort and greater reliability. The entry of high speed rail into the transportation market typically results in improved on-time flight performance, service quality, and price competition. High-speed rail in California would reduce flight congestion on one of the busiest domestic air routes in the US, with the SF-LA short haul air routes averaging 132 scheduled flights daily.
The high-speed rail system may relieve housing pressure in major urban areas, especially the Bay Area, by providing access to cheaper housing in the Central Valley, which would be particularly beneficial for business travelers and hybrid remote workers who commute only a few times a week. While the rail project may incentivize denser housing and job growth around stations, with cities such as Fresno and Bakersfield planning for major real estate investments in their downtowns, the urban policy advocacy group SPUR noted the risk of urban sprawl as a result of increased housing demand in the Central Valley, and that the state should consider mitigating this in its planning approach.
In 2023, Caltrans issued the 2023 California State Rail Plan, which is a comprehensive plan to upgrade and modernize the state's intercity passenger and freight rail systems through 2050. Provisions of the plan include increasing the capacity of existing railways, establishing new services, improving service frequencies and train speeds, and integrating ticketing between transit agencies in order for ticketing through all rail systems to be able to be done statewide. The plan outlines the integration of high-speed rail into the statewide system as its primary north-south passenger link. Although the Authority has not indicated completion dates for the full system, the 2023 version of the state rail plan used 2050 for the completion of both Phase 1 and Phase 2.
Plans, construction and project status
The project is split into two major phases: Phase 1 is to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles via the Central Valley; Phase 2 is an extension of Phase 1 both to the north from Merced to Sacramento and to the south from Los Angeles to San Diego via the Inland Empire. As of 2024, the Authority is targeting completion of the "Initial Operating Segment" (IOS), a section within the Phase 1 route in the Central Valley, with under active construction. The project has received approximately $23 billion in combined state and federal funding through the end of 2024 (including a disputed $3.3 billion of federal funding), and has spent a total of $13.8 billion. As of February 2024, the entire Phase 1 was projected to cost between $89–128 billion, with allowance for future inflation.
Phase 1
thumb|300px|High-speed rail project status as of May 2025
Phase 1 of the planned route, about long, The existing 4th and King Caltrain station in San Francisco is expected to be the northern terminus of Phase 1 until the future completion of the Downtown Rail Extension (now known as The Portal) to the Salesforce Transit Center.
From San Francisco, the planned route runs south to Gilroy before crossing the Diablo Range eastward over Pacheco Pass into the Central Valley. The route branches north to Merced via a flying wye which is intended to serve as the connection for a future Phase 2 extension to Sacramento. As part of Phase 1, Merced is planned to serve as a transfer point to the Gold Runner and Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) trains continuing towards Stockton, Sacramento and other destinations. As of the 2025 Supplemental Project Update, the Authority is considering delaying construction of the Merced extension in order to prioritize an earlier connection to the Bay Area through Gilroy. South of there, Madera through Bakersfield stations are located along the main line in the Central Valley.
In the urbanized areas from San Francisco to Gilroy and from Burbank to Anaheim, the Phase 1 route follows existing railroad right-of-ways. In 2012, the Authority adopted a "blended" approach to construction in these segments, which would involve high-speed trains sharing track with Amtrak and local commuter trains, specifically Caltrain in the Bay Area and Metrolink in Southern California. Between Gilroy and Burbank, the planned route will run on dedicated high-speed tracks. Gold Runner passengers continuing to Southern California currently transfer to Amtrak Thruway buses at Bakersfield. This bus connection will remain necessary until the construction of Phase 1 reaches Palmdale, where the high speed rail station will be integrated with the existing Metrolink transportation hub. The remainder of the planned is expected to complete civil construction by the end of 2026. of extensions to Merced and to Bakersfield, which would complete the IOS, are under engineering design.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ IOS construction status, as of August 2025
! style="border: none; background: none;" | !! Section !! Section Start !! Section End !! Length !! Funding Status !! Type !! Civil Construction Status !! Track and Systems Status !! Notes
|-
! rowspan=5 | Initial Operating Segment (IOS)
| Merced Extension
| Merced || Madera || || data-sort-value="2" || High-speed ROW || data-sort-value="1" || data-sort-value="2" || Potentially resequenced for later construction
|-
| Construction Package 1
| Madera || South of Fresno || || data-sort-value="3" || High-speed ROW || data-sort-value="2" || data-sort-value="2" ||
|-
| Construction Package 2–3
| South of Fresno || Tulare/Kern county border || || data-sort-value="3" || High-speed ROW || data-sort-value="2" || data-sort-value="2" ||
|-
| Construction Package 4
| Tulare/Kern county border || Poplar Avenue || || data-sort-value="3" || High-speed ROW || data-sort-value="2" || data-sort-value="2" ||
|-
| Bakersfield Extension
| Poplar Avenue || Bakersfield || || data-sort-value="2" || High-speed ROW || data-sort-value="1" || data-sort-value="2" ||
|}
The scope of the IOS has changed several times in the project's history. In 2012 it was planned to run from Merced through Bakersfield to Burbank (just north of Los Angeles), a distance of about . This would have closed a major gap in California intercity rail services, as the existing Gold Runner terminates at Bakersfield and does not continue on to Los Angeles. the Authority changed the IOS to a northern segment between San Jose and Bakersfield, the "Silicon Valley to Central Valley line". In 2019 Gavin Newsom chose the current definition of an IOS between Merced and Bakersfield in the Central Valley, a long segment with under active construction. If additional funding becomes available, the Authority still intends to construct the northern Bay Area connection before the southern connection to Los Angeles. The first 119 miles, stretching from Madera south to Shafter, a city about northwest of Bakersfield, are being constructed under four design-build contracts titled "construction packages". In August 2022, the Authority approved design contracts for the remaining of the IOS connecting Madera to Merced and Shafter to Bakersfield, with construction contracts expected in 2025–2026. Planning for the Madera station is occurring under a separate agreement with the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority. The construction contract for track and electrical power systems on the IOS is expected in 2024–2025. and was completed in September 2024.
The corridor from San Jose to Gilroy will also require electrification; as of February 2024, the Authority was still in negotiations with Union Pacific Railroad over proposed alterations to the tracks. Since many at-grade crossings will remain,
| Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA)
| Part of the independent Downtown Rail Extension (DTX, also known as The Portal) project
|-
| San Francisco<br/>4th and King
| San Francisco
|
| Caltrain
| Interim northern terminus for CAHSR until DTX concludes, after which some CAHSR trains will stop at an adjacent planned station at 4th and Townsend
|-
| Millbrae-SFO
| Millbrae, San Mateo County
|
|
| SFO Airport connection via BART
|-
| San Jose Diridon
| San Jose, Santa Clara County
|
| Caltrain
|
|-
| Gilroy
| Gilroy, Santa Clara County
|
| Caltrain
|
|-
! rowspan="5" | Initial Operating Segment (IOS)
| Merced
| Merced, Merced County
|
| California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA)
| Upon CAHSR being operational on the IOS, Merced will become the southern terminus of the Gold Runner service. (As of August 2025, the southern Gold Runner terminus may be Madera)
|-
| Madera
| Madera, Madera County
|
| San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA)
| The SJJPA is the entity operating the Amtrak Gold Runner service. It is relocating the existing Madera station in anticipation of HSR, starting 2024
|-
| Fresno
| Fresno, Fresno County
| Fresno Area Express
| CHSRA
|
|-
| Kings–Tulare
| outside Hanford, California, Kings County
| / Cross Valley Corridor (proposed service)
| CHSRA
|
|-
| Bakersfield
| Bakersfield, Kern County
| Golden Empire Transit
| CHSRA
|
|-
! rowspan="4" | Southern California
| Palmdale
| Palmdale, Los Angeles County
|
| CHSRA
| Connection to Brightline West in the Victor Valley is proposed via the High Desert Corridor project
|-
| Burbank Airport
| Burbank, Los Angeles County
|
| CHSRA
|
|-
| Los Angeles
| Downtown Los Angeles
|
| Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro)
| To be converted to a through-run station under the Link US project
|-
| Anaheim
| Anaheim, Orange County
|
| CHSRA
|
|}
Phase 1 is planned to include several types of service – nonstop trains traveling directly between San Francisco and Los Angeles; express and limited trains making a few intermediate stops at major cities; and local trains making all stops.
!Station
!Nonstop
!Express
!Limited
!All-stop
!Merced–<br>Anaheim
!Merced–<br>San Jose
|-
!San Francisco<br>(Transbay)
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|
|
|-
!San Francisco<br>(4th and Townsend)
|style="text-align:center;"|｜
|style="text-align:center;"|｜
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|
|
|-
!Millbrae/SFO
|style="text-align:center;"|｜
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|
|
|-
!San Jose
|style="text-align:center;"|｜
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|style="text-align:center;"|●
|style="text-align:center; background:#F5F5DC"|●
|
|style="text-align:center; background:#F5F5DC"|●
|-
!Gilroy
|style="text-align:center;"|｜
|style="text-align:center;"|｜
|style="text-align:center;"|｜
|style="text-align:center; background:#F5F5DC"|●
|style="text-align:center;"|
|style="text-align:center; background:#F5F5DC"|●
|-
!Merced
|
|
|
|style="text-align:center;"|