More than a decade after a state agency was given the task of designing a 700-mile high-speed rail system for California, not a single mile of track has been laid and there is growing speculation the $40 billion project never will get built.

With the state forging ahead with a $20 billion campaign to rebuild California's freeways and trade corridors, the dream of a speedy train that would pick up passengers in San Diego and drop them off in San Francisco 3 1/2 hours later has been put on the shelf.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed to give the agency $1.6 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1. That's barely enough to keep the doors open and the lights on at the California High-Speed Rail Authority's offices, with its staff of six.

Tens of millions more are needed to keep on track environmental and design contracts the agency's board approved in January.

"A long time ago I thought it was dead," said Temecula Councilman Ron Roberts, board chairman for the six-county Metrolink commuter rail system, in a recent interview. "And I still think it is dead."

Lake Elsinore Mayor Bob Magee, a Riverside County transportation commissioner, agreed.

"I don't think we're going to see high-speed rail in my lifetime."

Despite the temptation for many to write the project's obituary, Schwarzenegger's staff insists he is not out to kill it.

And a prominent Democratic lawmaker from San Diego, Sen. Christine Kehoe, maintains the project is not dead -- at least not yet.

"It's going to live to fight another day," Kehoe said.

Kehoe said Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, are determined to boost the authority's budget by $50 million to $60 million.

Still, even if the agency gets enough money to keep contracts on schedule, the bigger question of where funding for construction will come from may remain unanswered.

Several years ago, Sacramento passed legislation to place a $10 billion bond on the November 2004 ballot to jump-start construction of the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco leg of the system. But the measure was moved to the 2006 ballot, and then to one in 2008.

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta, a project opponent, said his guess is the bond will be pulled yet again.

"The state's finances are going to have to improve at a pretty remarkable clip to make it attractive to go out for a big bond for something that would be completely new," Hollingsworth said.

Sabrina Lockhart, the governor's deputy press secretary, said Schwarzenegger would prefer to see a measure that provides all of the $40 billion needed for the project.

"He has serious reservations about asking taxpayers to mortgage $10 billion when the rail authority hasn't determined where the full funding will come from," Lockhart said. "That is why he is asking for a delay in the bonds."

Kehoe suggests the uncertainty about high-speed rail's future is the result of the governor's uncertain leadership, underscored by delays.

"The governor is sending a very mixed message on the high-speed rail, unfortunately," she said. "We need leadership that says California is committed to this project. And we don't have that yet."

On the contrary, Lockhart said, the governor is trying to prevent California from ending up with a partially built project.

The construction funding issue aside, there are concerns the rail authority's ongoing planning efforts could ground to a halt next year.

Deputy Director Dan Leavitt said the agency requested $103 million, including $66 million for design and environmental studies and $37 million for land purchases. Leavitt said the land buys could be put on hold, but the studies must stay on track or consultants who recently won contracts will go elsewhere.

Without those contracts, there would be little for the staff to do next year, he said.

"Our main purpose is to oversee contracts and consultants, so what would we be overseeing?" Leavitt asked. "All the work that we have started would come to a standstill."

Kehoe said the Democratic leadership is determined to keep the studies on schedule.

Whichever direction the debate ends up going, area transportation officials say one thing's clear: The chance high-speed rail will reach San Diego and Riverside counties is so remote, and so far out into the future, planners must turn to other solutions to the swelling inland congestion.

The rail authority's plan calls for taking the San Diego-to-Los Angeles leg of the network through Escondido, Temecula and Riverside. And transportation planners had been counting on it to deliver relief to commuters on jammed Interstate 15.

But Lake Elsinore's Magee said officials have no choice now but to forge ahead with other options that could be completed decades earlier. For example, he said, the region should explore extending Metrolink tracks south along Interstates 15 and 215 from Riverside to Temecula and Escondido.

"Metrolink is taking congestion off the 91 Freeway," Magee said. "Ridership continues to go up. Metrolink is a success and we need to continue to build on that."

Roberts, of Temecula, said, however, that bus rapid transit would work better between Temecula and Escondido because of the mountainous terrain.

The stage is being set for a fast bus system. San Diego Association of Governments is building exclusive lanes in Rancho Bernardo and Escondido for buses, car pools and toll-paying drivers, and is exploring the idea of extending those lanes north to the Riverside County line.

Solana Beach Councilman Joe Kellejian, a longtime fan of high-speed rail, said the enormous cost of building a railroad through steep terrain is precisely why the region should not give up on the statewide project. He said the state would be in a better position than local agencies to cover that cost.

"In the areas south of Temecula, we have very steep grades," Kellejian said. "And, so, there is going to be a lot of tunneling and you're going to have bridges."

Despite the project delays, Kellejian urges patience. He maintains high-speed rail will eventually arrive.

"I remain optimistic that it will be built," Kellejian said. "Once you start looking at gasoline pushing $4 a gallon -- while you're sitting in traffic -- it's going to make a lot of sense."

Rail authority board member Lynn Schenk of San Diego and former chief of staff for former Gov. Gray Davis has been a proponent of high-speed rail since the 1970s. And she, for one, is not giving up.

"This is a huge undertaking and so it is going to take awhile," Schenk said. "I hope it is going to happen in my lifetime, and I am fairly confident that it will."

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 740-5442 or ddowney@nctimes.com.

Public officials, residents and community leaders had a few things to say about the likelihood that California's proposed $40 billion, 700-mile high-speed rail system will be built:

"Because of the cost, I am skeptical that it will ever be built. The high-speed rail concept is a good idea. But I don't know how the taxpayers are going to be able to afford it." -- Jim Waldorf, Encinitas

"A long time ago I thought it was dead. And I still think it is dead." -- Temecula Councilman Ron Roberts

"If there was a high-speed rail system between the Temecula Valley and San Diego, I'd definitely use it. It'd be nice to have. But I just don't think it will happen. I don't think our government's committed to it, personally. If they were committed to it they would be planning it, they would be doing it." -- David Kennedy of Murrieta, who commutes to San Diego

"I don't think we're going to see high-speed rail in my lifetime." -- Lake Elsinore Mayor Bob Magee

"I remain optimistic that it will be built. Once you start looking at gasoline pushing $4 a gallon -- while you're sitting in traffic -- it's going to make a lot of sense." -- Solana Beach Councilman Joe Kellejian

"I think high-speed rail is the next generation of transportation, and it is critical to the economic success of California. I think it has to get built because, fundamentally, our highways are constrained, our airports are at capacity and our railroads are at capacity. If we want to keep moving people and goods, our next choice is going to be high-speed rail." -- Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler

"Why would you ride on a train for 3 1/2 hours to San Francisco when you could hop on a plane and be there in an hour?" -- State Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murrieta

"A lot more study needs to be done to determine if it is truly cost-effective versus using funds for other transportation infrastructure, such as freeway expansion and completion of intracity light-rail projects. Also, can high-speed rail compete with airlines like Southwest?" -- Scott Barnett, former Del Mar councilman and president of TaxpayersAdvocate.org