Panel Says California Should Hold Off On High-Speed Rail Bonds
An independent panel said California lawmakers should not authorize $2.7 billion in bonds to build the initial section of the state's high-speed rail system.
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An independent panel said California lawmakers should not authorize $2.7 billion in bonds to build the initial section of the state's high-speed rail system.
Backers of a plan to build a high-speed rail system from Sacramento to San Diego have inflated the number of jobs the project would generate by as many as 50 times, according to a published report.
The Palo Alto City Council on Monday night approved the wording of the city's official position on high-speed rail, calling for the project to be "terminated."
A House committee questioned the head of the California High-Speed Rail Authority on Thursday about the growing cost of building a rail line to connect the state's major cities.
If a bond measure to construct a high-speed rail system were put on a California ballot today, the state's voters would reject it by 59 percent, according to the results of a new Field Poll released Tuesday.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood strongly defended the federal government's nearly $4 billion investment in high-speed rail in California.
California's plan for a $98 billion high-speed rail system to connect Northern and Southern California does not comply with some parts of the 2008 ballot measure voters approved to provide the seed money, providing the latest obstacle for the embattled project, according to the state's legislative analyst.
The recent congressional cuts to California's High Speed Rail project are prompting questions in San Francisco about the future of the new Transbay Terminal, which is currently under construction at 1st and Mission streets.
Congress is on the verge of killing funding for President Barack Obama's signature high-speed rail program, but it may have some life in it still, especially if the San Francisco-to-Anaheim high-speed project is built.
A judge has ordered California to scrap plans to run bullet trains from the Central Valley and up the San Francisco Peninsula in the latest bump for a $99 billion project.
The report estimates the actual cost at $98.5 billion if the route between San Francisco and Anaheim is completed in 2033. But the plan also said the system would be profitable even at the lowest ridership estimates.
California voters and the Obama administration have committed nearly $13 billion to the state's high-speed rail project, but the ambitious plan to link California's biggest cities by rail faces increasing questions about whether it will ever become reality.
High speed rail on the Peninsula isn't the only controversial segment of the route that will someday connect every major California city. KCBS and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier said that the High Speed Rail Authority is now revising the route between Fresno and Bakersfield, after some spirited opposition.
California's controversial high speed rail project, which lost congressional and legislative support after costs skyrocketed, still has the support of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
The study found that major upgrades would be needed for the plan to come together.
The estimated cost of California's high-speed rail project is rising by billions of dollars.
Funding for high speed rail, which remains uncertain, could be further jeopardized by the budget deal that avoided default.
It's shaping up to be a battle between San Jose and L.A. for which city will get the first bullet trains in California, as officials are considering whether to extend the first leg of the rail system to Silicon Valley or Southern California.
Nearly all planning work on a four-track bullet train system along the Peninsula has been halted as authorities consider a lower-cost option that would minimize the impact on neighborhoods.
A panel charged with reviewing plans for California's $43 billion high-speed rail project says planners need to answer serious questions about the cost, business model and expected ridership of the system before the Legislature approves construction.
The budget Gov. Jerry Brown signed Thursday included line item vetoes that left public transit agencies around the state scrambling to make up millions of lost funding.
The federal agency that has approved about $3.5 billion in grants for California's high-speed rail system has no authority to change the September 2012 deadline to start construction.
The state should not change its plan for high speed rail despite concerns raised by the nonpartisan legislative analyst, according to experts who insisted that critics do not understand the nuances of building bullet trains in California.
The state's independent analyst on Tuesday called for major changes to California's high-speed rail plans.
California's roughly $300 million share will be used for a 20-mile stretch of the rail project in the Central Valley.
