Nation’s first high-speed rail project continues to expand, creating over 10k jobs: ‘We couldn’t build this system without them’

Californians have been waiting for a high-speed rail network since it was first proposed in 1979, and after many fits and starts, it appears that the project is finally gaining steam. 

According to the California High-Speed Rail Authority, a bullet train project that will connect the Bay Area with the Los Angeles Basin has created more than 13,000 labor jobs since construction started in 2015.

“High-speed rail construction has continued to flourish, creating good-paying construction jobs for men and women across the Valley,” Chuck Rojas of the Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare Counties Building and Construction Trades Council told KTLA5. 

“As the number of construction sites continues to grow, so does the need of a growing workforce to bring the nation’s first high-speed rail system to California. When construction grows, these workers and their families thrive, and we couldn’t build this system without them.”

There are 25 active high-speed rail construction sites in California’s Central Valley, with 422 miles of the line having already been environmentally cleared. (Only the Palmdale-to-Burbank section remains uncleared, with approval expected to come this summer.)

And if everything goes according to plan, all that construction will soon yield an actual, usable high-speed train for Californians to travel on. Studies have shown train travel to be by far the most planet-friendly form of long-distance travel, producing far less planet-overheating air pollution per passenger than cars or airplanes.

While other countries — China, in particular — have invested heavily in high-speed rail networks, the United States has lagged far behind. But success for the California system could be a boon to high-speed rail projects all over the country.

If you just can’t wait for the California high-speed rail network to become a reality, you can always take a look at the plans the authority has released, which include station designs as well as mockups of cabin interiors.

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