As of Monday afternoon, there was a leadership change at the center of California’s high-speed rail project.

The state’s high-speed rail authority has unanimously elected Steve Kawa as its new board chairman.

Kawa is one of two appointees recently named by Governor Gavin Newsom to help to oversee the project last month.

And that change in leadership comes, as the project moves forward with a major step forward.

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The California High-Speed Rail Authority presented its finalized business plan to state lawmakers, and the board has unanimously voted to advance it.

Kawa said, “I am so pleased that this board, first time chairing it, passed both items unanimously. I think it’s showing that we are working together on behalf of the people of California to once again make sure high speed rail is a reality.”

It also approved a major track-and-systems construction contract.

CEO Ian Choudri said, “This is it. We said that we’re going to get this done. We are here now. We have the private sector engaged and we have track builders, track and electrification builders on board.”

According to the new plan, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has decided to change its course.

Instead of focusing on completing the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles route, the authority’s new updated business plan prioritizes launching passenger service in the Central Valley first.

“Ultimately, that resulted in savings even from our draft business plan. Merced to Bakersfield will now cost approximately $35.7 billion,” said a HSR spokesperson, to the board.

He also pointed out that this is a huge milestone for the authority.

They will be able to lay down tracks by the end of 2026.

“We believe that with this plan that we’ve laid out, we will be able to provide basically, fair service by 2033 from Merced to Bakersfield,” he said.

When service begins, people could see trains running back and forth through the valley up to eight times a day.

If everything stays on schedule, the authority says passengers could be riding that stretch by 2033.

Private-sector partners have been brought in as part of the authority’s plan to help finance and deliver the project.

But some board members raised concerns about shortfalls found in the plan.

“By my own math, $86.8 billion dollars short of where we need to go and that’s going to require partnership by every definition,” said Jason Elliot. “If we all commit to partnership, we will solve that gap. If we are fighting with each other. We will not, seems to me.”

However, those shortfalls were not further discussed in the meeting.

During public comment, critics pushed back saying other key details are missing in it too.

Leti Valencia, Director of Organizing for Faith in the Valley, spoke during public comment to address her concerns.

“The plan proposes several significant changes to the high-speed rail project, particularly decreasing the scope of the project in the central valley hidden in its technical appendices of the plan,” she said.

She went on to say plan discusses several possibilities for revenue generation but does not provide any information about the land use authority or impacts associated with sitting these projects along its route.

Public commenters raised questions about the project’s direction going forward in this.

High-Speed Rail Board Member Anna Caballero stressed the importance of clear communication.

She said people want answers and want to know what’s happening as the project continues to develop.

Now, more than two weeks ago, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer spoke to FOX26 about a proposal by the state to take local property taxes from areas near high-speed rail.

It was brought up at the meeting.

Board member Henry Perea questioned the high-speed rail authority about this.

Choudri responded saying, the agency does not have control over that. He added the current plan does not include any taxes on local districts. And as far as they know, they are not aware of any discussions underway at the Governor’s Office regarding it.

The high-speed rail authority is also considering two potential Central Valley sites for a heavy maintenance facility.

One in Fresno and another in Hanford.