Californians would reject bullet train in revote, polls finds
With the cost of the state’s high-speed rail project rising dramatically, a new public opinion poll shows that a clear majority of California’s registered voters would reject the proposal if given a second chance to vote on it today.
Released Tuesday, the poll by Field Research Corp. in San Francisco found that 64% of those surveyed want another public vote on the $98-billion project and that 59% of respondents would oppose it because of changes in its cost and completion date.
The estimated price tag for the 520-mile system between San Francisco and Los Angeles is now $98 billion to $117 billion — at least triple the initial projection of $33 billion and over double a more recent estimate of $43 billion. Planners have extended the construction deadline from 2020 to 2033.
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Union Pacific voices major objections to bullet-train plans
-- By Dan Weikel and Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times
Photo: A freight train rolls past the Buena Park Metrolink station. Initially, bullet train service would be blended with the existing Metrolink network in Southern California. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times / February 18, 2010