Bullet train funding plan faulted
The funding plan for the California bullet train does not comply with key provisions of a ballot measure that voters approved to authorize the project and $9 billion in state bonds to help finance it, according to a report released Tuesday.
The study — by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, which periodically reviews the $98-billion construction proposal — concluded that the most recent funding plan does not meet important requirements of Proposition 1A because high-speed trains cannot operate on the first stretch of track to be built next year in the Central Valley.
Before bond financing can be requested, analysts said, project officials must complete an environmental review and identify a corridor, a usable segment, all sources of committed funds and a schedule for the receipt of financing.
-- Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times
Photo: A rider boards a Metrolink train at L.A.’s Union Station. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times