Calif. Asks Feds for $4.7 Billion for Speedy Trains

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has requested $4.7 billion in federal stimulus money to help build an 800-mile bullet train system from San Diego to San Francisco.

The governor submitted the state's application Friday for the grant, which would call for some $5 billion in state, local and private matching funds to help pay for the $45 billion rail project.

Schwarzenegger told a news conference at Los Angeles' Union Station it is time for U.S. rail networks to achieve speeds reached by systems in Europe and Asia.

Planners say the train could travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco in under three hours.

California voters approved issuing nearly $10 billion in bonds to fund high-speed rail construction in November.

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