They aren't exactly ready to lay down track, but the state officials planning a 700-mile statewide high-speed rail system took a key step forward Monday in approving $300 million in contracts.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority board selected three engineering teams to design three segments of the proposed $37 billion system and analyze their potential impacts on the environment and nearby communities. One of those is the San Diego-to-Los Angeles segment that would run along Interstates 15 and 215 through inland San Diego County and western Riverside County. Train stations are proposed for Escondido and Temecula, among other places.

If built, the steel rail network would link California's major cities with trains capable of cruising at 200 mph, and passengers reportedly would be able to board in downtown San Diego and reach San Francisco within 3 1/2 hours.

Judge Quentin L. Kopp, chairman of the agency's nine-member appointed board, said in a telephone interview from Sacramento after Monday's board meeting that the contracts would pave the way for construction on the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco leg in 2009. However, construction on that $20 billion, 420-mile segment hinges heavily on whether California voters will be in a mood to approve an additional $10 billion in bonds when an oft-postponed high-speed rail bond measure reaches the ballot in November of next year.

And much of the contract work hinges on whether the Legislature will be willing to significantly increase funding over the next few years for the authority, which was created in 1996.

Mehdi Morshed, executive director, said the authority is operating on a tight $14 million budget this year and is hoping state lawmakers will approve its request for $103 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

On Monday, the board selected HNTB, a national transportation firm with decades of experience in railroad planning, to tackle the San Diego-to-Los Angeles portion of the project for $95 million, Morshed said.

The board also chose RS/Hatch Mott MacDonald/Arup - URS, a global environmental and engineering consulting firm, to study the Fresno-to-Palmdale leg for a contract amount of $120 million.

The board also selected DMJM Harris, a national rail design firm, to analyze the Sacramento-to-Fresno section for $83.4 million.

The board awarded contracts to multiple firms in order to break up the large amount of work into manageable sizes. Agency officials said all regional teams will be supervised by the same consultant, Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Marc Adelman, a downtown San Diego attorney and one of two San Diego County members on the board, hailed the contract approvals as a big step.

"The fact that we were able to take this step is significant," Adelman said. "I'm thrilled that the San Diego-to-Los Angeles portion of the route wasn't left behind the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco segment."

However, other transportation officials who have watched the high-speed rail dream struggle to get off the ground and be moved to the shelf by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's infrastructure bond plan, say the contract approvals mean little in the absence of much additional needed funding.

Ron Roberts, a Temecula councilman, Riverside County transportation commissioner and new chairman of the Metrolink board of directors, said, "I'm certainly not going to hold my breath waiting for high-speed rail to come down through here."

With all the delays, it is probably time to focus on expanding and connecting existing commuter rail in Riverside and San Diego counties, something that can be accomplished much faster, Roberts said.

"In 10 years, practically nothing has happened with high-speed rail," said Roberts, who formerly embraced the project. "I just don't see the enthusiasm in the Legislature to spend that much money on it when we are so far behind in building our road infrastructure."

Adelman, however, remains optimistic and said he is confident California voters will support the 2008 rail bond. And he said high-speed rail would do wonders for area commuters and for employers who are having trouble hiring people unwilling to spend several hours each day stuck on Interstate 15.

"Let's say the San Diego Police Department is looking for officers and has a number of qualified applicants living in Escondido and Temecula," Adelman said. "This is going to help people who live far away from San Diego get here much quicker."

Having toured the extensive high-speed rail 1,400-mile system in Japan, which first opened in 1964, Adelman said he is convinced the Japanese model is ideal for perpetually growing, crowded California.

"I can't tell you how impressive it is," he said. "It's clean. It's efficient. It's as punctual as it can be."

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