14 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Los Angeles, CA Times, 4/21/16:

Rail authority revises bullet train plan to link Merced to initial operating segment

The state rail authority, tentatively bowing to demands of the northern San Joaquin Valley, now intends to link Merced to the initial operating segment of the California bullet train, a decision that could add more than $1 billion to that phase of the cash-strapped project.

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[KevinKorell]

Editorial in Modesto, CA Bee, 4/23/16:

We have to fight for our seat on the bullet train

Did state officials really think they’d get away with trying to throw us off the train?

It would be difficult to draw any other conclusion after looking at the updated business plan released by the California High Speed Rail Authority in mid-February. It was supposed to be approved last week in San Jose, but wasn’t – with good reason. It was a train wreck, at least for us.

Here is the entire editorial.

[CNJRoss]

AP, 4/28:
 

High-speed rail board approves revised California plan

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The board that oversees California's high-speed rail project approved a revised $64 billion plan Thursday that calls for the train to go from the Central Valley to the San Jose area before it heads to Southern California, acknowledging the political reality that federal and private financing has fallen far short of what backers had hoped.

 

The board gave its approved at a brief meeting in Sacramento, a week after postponing a planned vote to make changes to the revised business plan.

 

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[Sloan]

April 26, 2016 construction video update

 

[CNJRoss]

The Fresno (CA) Bee, 6/27:
 

Work starts soon on high-speed rail trench into downtown Fresno

 

Highlights

Trench will route high-speed trains under Fresno highway

Construction at Highway 180 expected to take 18 months

 

Motorists on Highway 180 through downtown Fresno will start seeing the effects of high-speed rail construction in July as crews begin building a trench that will take the bullet-train tracks beneath the freeway.

 

The 40-foot-deep trench is the first underground construction for California’s high-speed train system. The two-mile long trench, from Roeding Park to about Stanislaus Street in downtown Fresno, will go under the freeway as well as a San Joaquin Valley Railroad line and an irrigation canal.

 

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