[LINK] "California breaks ground on first US bullet train project"
Al Jazeera reports on the inaguration of a high speed rail project in California.
Officials marked the start of work on California’s high-speed rail project, the nation’s first bullet train, which is designed to whisk travelers at 200 mph between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours.
The ceremony in Fresno came amid challenges. Central Valley farmers in the train's path had sued to block it and are contesting that those behind the project have fallen short of responsibilities under a 2013 legal settlement, according to The Fresno Bee.
[. . .]
Dan Richard, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, acknowledges the authority has been slow to buy up most of the land needed for laying track. But he is confident the system will be built, making California a model for high-speed rail across the country.
"The voters are going to get exactly what they asked for," Richard said. "We have never, ever stepped away from that vision, not one inch."
To make way for tracks, some demolition started last year in Fresno. But officials say work this year will be more intensive along the project's first segment - a 28-mile stretch from Fresno north to Madera. A second phase of work will occur along the 114 miles from Fresno south to Bakersfield. Plans call for completing the first 520 miles linking San Francisco and the Los Angeles Basin by 2029.
Officials marked the start of work on California’s high-speed rail project, the nation’s first bullet train, which is designed to whisk travelers at 200 mph between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours.
The ceremony in Fresno came amid challenges. Central Valley farmers in the train's path had sued to block it and are contesting that those behind the project have fallen short of responsibilities under a 2013 legal settlement, according to The Fresno Bee.
[. . .]
Dan Richard, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, acknowledges the authority has been slow to buy up most of the land needed for laying track. But he is confident the system will be built, making California a model for high-speed rail across the country.
"The voters are going to get exactly what they asked for," Richard said. "We have never, ever stepped away from that vision, not one inch."
To make way for tracks, some demolition started last year in Fresno. But officials say work this year will be more intensive along the project's first segment - a 28-mile stretch from Fresno north to Madera. A second phase of work will occur along the 114 miles from Fresno south to Bakersfield. Plans call for completing the first 520 miles linking San Francisco and the Los Angeles Basin by 2029.