California High-Speed Railway (ESPLAR Universe)

In the ESPLAR Universe, the **California High-Speed Railway (CAHSR)** is a dedicated high speed rail line operated by the California Railway District, a joint division of Amtrak and Union Pacific, and stakes owned by regional commuter rail/airline and metro rail companies, such as BART, LA Metro Rail, Central Valley Railway, and Inland Empire Railway. The line mainly goes from San Francisco and Sacramento to Los Angeles and San Diego via Fresno and Bakersfield. It was the United States' first dedicated high speed rail line and the main inspiration for many other high speed rail lines that defined the Adam Kestrel (D-OH, 1996-2004), Larry Keaton (R-LA, 2004-2008), and Peter Haefner (D-CA, 2012-2020) presidencies.

First envisioned in 1978, the California HSR's construction began in 1984 and took 8 years to complete the section between San Francisco and Los Angeles due to crude construction methods, and by 1992 construction had begun on the section between Sacramento and Fresno. By 1996, Californians can travel between LA and San Francisco in just 3 hours or less, leading to a rapid decrease in interstate auto and air traffic in favor of the Calfornia HSR. By 2023, the California HSR now has routes between San Francisco and Sacramento, to Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Inland Empire. Connections are available to the Cascadia HSR, and later in Q2 2023, the Southwest HSR to Phoenix and the Great Southern HSR. The California HSR is among America's busiest high speed rail corridors, and is among the fastest in the world. The section between Sacramento and Bakersfield can support up to 450 kph, and could potentially reduce travel times between the two cities to just one hour compared to one hour and a half (avr. 296 kph) in 2023. Testing is planned for this section on Saturdays, and is dramatically reduced at nights to reduce noise along the Central Valley.

### Planned Extensions

In addition to an extension to Nevada (but operated by Deseret HSR) and to Phoenix (operated by Southwest HSR), there is a planned extension to Oakland, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), Vallejo, and Davis (UC Davis), which will be operational by 2026.

## Operation

### Services

The following services are operational on the California HSR as of Q1 2023:

* Redwood, San Francisco-Los Angeles all-stations, starting 22 February, 1996
* Yosemite, San Francisco-Los Angeles limited-stop, starting 22 February, 1996
* Laguna, Los Angeles-San Diego (via Anaheim/San Clemente) all stations, starting 15 July, 2002
* Tuloumne, Sacramento-San Diego (via Anaheim/San Clemente) limited-stop, starting 23 March, 2006
* Miwok-Yokut, Sacramento-Los Angeles all stations, starting 23 March, 2006

## Organization and Management

### Governance

The California High-Speed Railway District, which is a division of the California Railway District, governs the CAHSR, and is composed of counties served by the CAHSR, and in 2024 will add Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano and Yolo Counties. As of 2023, the following counties are part of the District:

* City and County of San Francisco
* San Mateo County
* Santa Clara County
* Sacramento County
* San Joaquin County
* Stanislaus County
* Merced County
* Madera County
* Fresno County
* Tulare County
* Kern County
* Los Angeles County
* San Bernardino County
* Orange County
* Riverside County
* San Diego County