MORE ON: high-speed rail

A trio of American companies outbid four other teams of contractors vying for the contract to build the first segment of California's proposed high-speed train system in the San Joaquin Valley – and for several hundred million dollars less than state engineers estimated. The... + read more

Even as the state Senate voted last week to approve California’s $68 billion high-speed rail plan, opponents filed yet another lawsuit to stop the controversial construction project. Former California High-Speed Rail Authority Chairman Quentin Kopp, who led a 20-year fight for the bullet... + read more

Gov. Jerry Brown backed away from a fight with environmentalists yesterday, abandoning a plan to exempt the $68 billion California bullet train project from environmental laws. Brown had hoped to fast-track construction of the controversial project by sidestepping key provisions of the... + read more

California’s $68 billion bullet train is supposed to travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than two hours and 40 minutes. That speed – an average of more than 140 mph, including stops – is a legal requirement, written into the state voter initiative that gave the... + read more

A congressional committee is investigating California’s $68 billion bullet train project. The U.S. Government Accountability Office is investigating, too. Meanwhile, this proposal for the largest public works project in California history is the target of a flurry of lawsuits filed by... + read more

A report that warned of huge operating deficits for California’s bullet train was based on “the wrong numbers,” an official of the state High-Speed Rail Authority claims. Rail board member Mike Rossi told a legislative hearing this week that incorrect data undergirds a... + read more

A 32-chapter report intended to be the final word on the effects of high-speed trains between Merced and Fresno was released last week by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. It is unlikely, though, to change the minds of farmers and others who are worried about how high-speed rail may... + read more