From the CA High Speed Rail Authority

America’s renewed interest in high speed rail could be a tremendous opportunity for real estate investors.

Why High Speed Rail is an Investment Opportunity?

Land around major transportation infrastructure projects like freeways, Interstate Highways, airports and mass transit lines often goes up in value. Passengers who ride on this new form of transit are going to require services. New service businesses will pop up to seize this opportunity.  These businesses need land and because of the increased demand the value of that land rises.

High speed rail lines in Europe, Asia, and the Northeastern US attract hundreds of thousands of passenger’s everyday. The new high speed rail lines in the US are likely to do the same; these passengers will spend their cash at all kinds of service based businesses who need real estate and will pay top dollar for prime locations near high speed rail lines.

Another good investment is rental property within walking distance of a station site. This is another investment that could pay for itself in the form of rents while the owner waits for a developer to buy it. Even if a developer doesn’t buy the property, the owner will probably be able to increase the rents the high speed rail line opens for business.

The California department of transportation has a high speed rail website where you can find a map of the proposed lines and also a trip planner where you can see the distance and estimated time it would take for that trip.

The California proposed fast rail system will make a trip between Los Angeles and Bakersfield in less than an hour possible. Since real estate costs and living in Bakersfield are much lower than in LA many people will move to Bakersfield and commute to Los Angeles on the high speed rail. Naturally, real estate developers will take advantage of this with new subdivisions for all those new commuters.  This further move away from the cites could affect the home values in Los Angeles Suburbs, but most likely will have no effect.

The proposed high speed rail system won’t run through Walnut Creek.  The closest proposed stations are San Jose, San Francisco, and Sacramento.  A connecting line between Sacramento and San Jose, or San Francisco is the logical next step and it is in the plans.