SACRAMENTO-In a nod to the commitment and progress ofCalifornia’s high-speed rail system, the US Department ofTransportation today redirected $624 million in funding for theproject from other states to California. Or perhaps it is a nod toGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent letterto US Secretary of Transportation Raymond LaHood requesting thatother states’ unwanted federal contributions to high-speed railsystems be redirected to California.

Either way, according to Roelof van Ark, CEO of the CaliforniaHigh-Speed Rail Authority, “This is yet another vote of confidencethat California’s project is on the right track toward creatingtens of thousands of jobs for our state and constructing thenation’s first true high-speed rail system.”

In Gov. Schwarzenegger’s recent letter, he pointed out that hewas somewhat astonished when he heard of recent announcements from“some of our gubernatorial colleagues that they are uninterested infederal contributions to their high-speed rail systems.” Inresponse to those colleagues, he said, “You are more than welcometo redirect that money to California—where we know how to use it togenerate hundreds of thousands of jobs and provide a clean, fastand low-cost way to travel.”