The California High-Speed Rail Authority said interest from the private sector in investing in the project is strong.
The Authority said it hosted an industry forum in January to bring together more than 400 global experts to discuss strategies on how to build its system smarter and faster. The forum opened the door for meaningful private sector engagement, officials said, including interest from private equity firms exploring financing opportunities. The forum market the first large-scale industry collaboration and the Authority said it has continued to build on that momentum.
Authority CEO Ian Choudri said when he joined the organization in fall of last year, he set goals to right-size the project; build it faster, smarter and more economically; streamline operations; implement the vision to connect major population centers sooner; and stabilize state funding and financing mechanisms.
“After 200 days in this role, I’m proud to report that all five of these initiatives are well into the implementation phase,” Choudri said. “Notably, our outreach to the private sector has been met with strong and growing interest. While each of these actions is advancing rapidly, a major priority is to bring private capital into the program by early next year. Now is the time for California to show leadership by seizing this ‘once in a project lifetime opportunity’ to unlock private capital and build the future of transportation in California.”
Officials said the authority is now preparing to release a Request for Expression of Interest to begin the process of formal industry consultation for potential public private partnerships that can drive solutions and deliver project segments faster.