AMERICA’S first bullet train which will slash travel time between Los Angeles and San Francisco has been revealed.
The highly anticipated rail project will make the trip just two hours and 40 minutes – compared to nearly six hours by car.
Once completed, the bullet train scheme will provide speedy trips between the Bay Area and the Los Angeles region.
It will also connect the communities in between — Gilroy, Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield, Palmdale, and others — to the state’s largest job centers and innovation hub, said the California High Speed Rail Authority on February 28.
Many have been awaiting the project to be completed, as the past decade of construction has been focused on an initial segment in Central Valley.
There are five planned stations in the Central Valley: Bakersfield, Fresno, Merced, Madera and Kings/Tulare.
Newly-released renderings show the stations will feature plenty of modern twists, with spacious canopies and open concourses.
The stations’ architectural designs are set to incorporate natural materials like stone and wood.
If plans go according to schedule, the area could open as soon as 2032.
The Central Valley’s initial operating segment is expected to transition from civil construction to laying out tracks and installing systems later this year.
But there has yet to be a confirmed project opened date for the route between San Francisco and Los Angeles due to delays in planning and funding.
The overall projected cost for Phase 1 delivery, between San Francisco and Los Angeles/Anaheim, dropped by $1.7 billion.
The High-Speed Rail Authority has just released its Draft 2026 Business Plan for public review and comment.
“The authority has entered a new era of construction: laying track across the Central Valley and electrifying the corridor,” the plan said.
“With the southern railhead in Kern County ready ahead of schedule, deliveries of steel, concrete ties, and ballast material can begin, and work can commence.
“The authority has set construction milestones for the 119-mile Central Valley segment and developed a procurement schedule to keep the project on pace for completion of the Merced – Bakersfield early operating segment in 2032.”
The project has created thousands of jobs, with rail bosses partnering with California colleges and universities to build a skilled local workforce, it added.
President Donald Trump has previously slammed the project as a “train to nowhere.”
“The Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will,” Trump warned on Truth Social last July.
“This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED.”
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom wants lawmakers to reauthorize the state’s cap-and-trade program through 2045.
He also wants to ensure that high-speed rail receives $1 billion a year from it.
Last December, California dropped a lawsuit officials filed against the Trump administration over the federal government’s withdrawing of $4 billion for the project.
The U.S. Transportation Department slashed funds for the bullet train.
Gov. Newsom slammed the federal government’s decision as “a political stunt to punish California.”