California's High Speed Rail Gets a Nod from Vice Prez Joe Biden

Vice President Joe Biden, center, flanked by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, left, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, speaks at a roundtable discussion to discuss high speed rail (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Today, the California High Speed Rail Board meets to discuss a number of things, but mainly the route between Anaheim and Union Station and up to the 134 Freeway, which could be on of the first legs to be built along with a leg between San Francisco and San Jose.

But yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden gave the project a boost, at least in morale as he suggested the possibility of federal stimulus money earmarked for rail coming to the project.

“The reason why California is looked at so closely -- it’s been a priority of your governor, it’s been a priority of your Legislature, they’ve talked about it, a lot of planning has been done,” Biden said a press conference yesterday in Washington. “And although I can’t answer with specificity, it’s possible some of these legs may be more shovel-ready than others.”

It doesn't hurt that voters passed Prop 1a last November either, authorizing around $9 billion in funding. If California's high speed rail project does it get funded, it will probably be the shovel ready components like buying right of ways, laying track, building bridges and tunnels.