In a major pivot this month, the California High-Speed Rail Authority abandoned plans to build the high-cost, high-ridership Los Angeles segment of its bullet-train first and instead announced it would build a 250-mile leg north to San Jose in a dash to provide commercial service by 2025.

Toward that end, the authority will roll out guidelines soon for accepting unsolicited proposals to complete its 100-mile initial operating segment (IOS) in the Central Valley and then some or all of the northern route to Silicon Valley.