Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Bullet train speeds along sort of, central and northern CA


Image result for California bullet train picture
What me worry?
Image result for California bullet train picture
Our tech kids will benefit,
can live here, and commute.
Los Angeles Times/Ralpoh Vartabedian, Contact Reporter, 3/8/16. "Court rejects key lawsuit against California high-speed rail system."

Image result for California bullet train picture
Bullet train stations
already exist overseas.
 "A Sacramento Superior Court judge has denied a lawsuit that alleges that the bullet train project violates restrictions imposed in a 2008 bond act. ... Judge Michael Kenny did not explicitly rule that the project is complying with the restrictions, but rather said the matter is "not ripe for review."

.... The reversal by the California High-Speed Rail Authority would delay the arrival of high-speed rail for Southern California, which was originally planned as the end point for the project's initial operating segment.

The shift to the Bay Area will help the California High-Speed Rail Authority hold down costs and expedite construction of the system, which is already two years behind schedule.  Rail officials also say the latest cost estimate for the entire 500-mile project has been reduced from $68 billion to $64 billion, well below the $98-billion projection from several years ago, but still far above initial estimates of less than $40 billion."  Read article.

Related article.  The Sacramento Bee/Juliet Williams/Associated Press, 3/8/16, The Sacramento Bee/Juliet Williams/Associated Press, 3/8/16. "Judge lets planning, funding proceed for bullet train." .... "Voters have approved $10 billion in bonds for what would be the nation's first high-speed rail line, and California has secured another $3.2 billion in federal matching funds. In addition, the project will receive money each year from the state's greenhouse gas emission fund. The amount will total $500 million this year. That funding leaves it far short of its $64 billion price tag, and state lawmakers and the Republican-controlled Congress have balked at providing more money. Still, backers believe segments of the project can be operating within the next decade. ....  The change, which still requires board approval, would send tracks from the Central Valley north to the San Francisco Bay Area instead of south as planned since 2012.  It also calls for a 250-mile segment from San Jose to north of Bakersfield to begin operating by 2025."

Note photographs. Bullet train station by Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images, Beijing south railway station 89.3 KPCC, 9/28/13.  Kids will pay sign from SignalSCV.com, (Santa Clarita news), 1/6/15.
Cows  by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, 89.3 KPPC. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

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