California legislators are now openly mulling raiding high speed rail funds meant to complete the first leg in the Central Valley for rail improvements in the urban parts of California, namely the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles to Anaheim, as the Los Angeles Times reported.

I discussed the idea and its legal soundness on KPCC’s AirTalk radio program yesterday, along with Times reporter Ralph Vartabedian and Glendale City Councilmember and Metro and Metrolink board member Ara Najarian.

Bottom line: this could be the end of the dream of true high speed rail service in the state, but the reality is that the system isn’t going to be high speed anytime soon, absent significant new funding. And using the current funds to provide meaningful transit benefits in California’s major population centers wouldn’t foreclose the idea of upgrading the systems to high speed service at a later date. But once again, it will require significant new funding and the political will to raise it, both of which are big question marks at this point.