High-speed rail authority delays release of business plan
With California’s bullet train project facing new opposition in the Central Valley, including from the operator of the nation’s largest farm, J.G. Boswell Co., the state agency in charge of the project has announced a two-week delay in the release of a key business plan.
The extra time was sought by two members of the California High Speed Rail Authority board who were recently appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown and have begun a comprehensive review of the bullet train plan. The questions they are asking go to the heart of the pending business plan, including why the project is starting construction in the center of the state instead of in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Completion of the business plan is critical to starting construction next year and securing billions of dollars in federal grants.
“They have to answer some very skeptical legislators and general public with an adequate business plan,” said state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). “Every report until now has been challenged. Let’s deal with reality for a change.”
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-- Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times