California High-Speed Rail Faces Trouble

California's high-speed rail program hangs in a state of suspended animation, with boosters confident that ground will be broken in late 2012 as planned, and opponents equally certain they have already killed it.

The rail line, which would bridge the gap between Los Angeles and Sacramento and San Francisco, represents the largest infrastructure project in the country and is expected to create 160,000 construction jobs and 450,000 permanent jobs.

A referendum for the project was passed in 2008, but the rail line is now facing serious problems, mostly related to the cost of the project.

Huffington Post San Francisco published a piece that explored the significance of the project. Here’s what it means if the project does go through:

If a high-speed train does whisk down these tracks at 125 miles per hour, it will be a sign that the United States is still a country that can build big, daring infrastructure projects. And it will be a sign that the country is willing to spend big, on the scale of $60 billion dollars or more, on ambitious public projects that might create hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs.

Here’s what it means if it does not:

If the train never comes, the moral of the high-speed rail story will be considerably more complex. Residents, legislators and analysts are likely to dispute its meaning for decades, every time bullet trains are offered as a solution to the transportation problems of an America where highways only get more crowded, airplanes less reliable and gas prices more infuriating.

Check out the Huffington Post to see which Bay Area city is working hardest to curb the project.