PROBLEM ADDRESSED/RESEARCH QUESTIONS:

What specific partnership arrangements have public and private entities proposed and utilized for financing high speed rail in the U.S. and France? Have any of these partnerships allowed intercity passenger high speed rail to be constructed and operated at a profit? How can French and/or U.S. financing arrangements be applied usefully to improve intercity passenger rail in Region 2? This proposal builds upon and extends the boundaries of UTRC Minigrant research that began in September, 2011 and ends in September, 2012. The purpose of this research is to “analyze historical and contemporary cases of high speed rail in France and the United States” in order to develop information for improving to intercity passenger rail in Region II.1 To date my research has compared the proposed high speed rail line between Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, and the newest French line between Tours and Bordeaux, where construction began in early 2012 under an unprecedented performance-risk-based public-private partnership. The Minigrant did not afford sufficient time to compare additional lines in the U.S. and France because each line, or case, involves a complex financial history and political context. In fact, I am still learning more about both the California and Tours-Bordeaux projects. I propose to spend 2012- 2013 finishing my work on California and Tours-Bordeaux; adding new U.S. and French cases; and writing reports and articles that provide a comprehensive comparative analysis of the financial history of high speed rail in the U.S. and France.