27 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

The Sacramento Bee, 5/16/19:
 

Trump administration cancels $929 million contract for California bullet train

 

 

In a dramatic move, the Trump administration announced Thursday it has canceled a nearly billion-dollar funding contract with the California bullet train, throwing the state’s troubled high-speed rail project further in doubt.

 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom immediately fired back, calling the move illegal and vowing to fight it in court.

 

The Federal Railroad Administration said it terminated a longstanding contract to pay the California High Speed Rail Authority $928,620,000 because California “has repeatedly failed to comply with the terms of the (2010) agreement and has failed to make reasonable progress on the project.

 

“Additionally, California has abandoned its original vision of a high-speed passenger rail service connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, which was essential to its applications for FRA grant funding.”

 

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.c...l#storylink=cpy

[CNJRoss]

FRA news release:

 

Statement of Federal Railroad Administration on Termination of FY ‘10 Grant Agreement with California High-Speed Rail Authority

 

Thursday, May 16, 2019

 

  Statement from the Federal Railroad Administration 

 

“After careful consideration, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has terminated Cooperative Agreement No. FR-HSR-0118-12-01-01 (the FY10 Agreement) with the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), and will deobligate the $928,620,000 in funding under that agreement.  The decision follows FRA’s Notice of Intent to Terminate and consideration of the information provided by CHSRA on March 4, 2019. FRA finds that CHSRA has repeatedly failed to comply with the terms of the FY10 Agreement and has failed to make reasonable progress on the Project.  Additionally, California has abandoned its original vision of a high-speed passenger rail service connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, which was essential to its applications for FRA grant funding. FRA continues to consider all options regarding the return of $2.5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds awarded to CHSRA.”

 

See Also:

• Letter from FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory to CHSRA 5.16.19
• Exhibit A: FY10 Agreement, as amended
• Exhibit B: FRA Notice of Intent to Terminate Cooperative Agreement 2.19.19
• Exhibit C: CHSRA Letter to FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory 3.4.19
• Exhibit D: CHSRA Letter to FRA Director of Program Delivery, Jamie Rennert 3.4.19
• Exhibit E: Final CHSRA 2019 Project Update Report
• Exhibit F: CHSRA FY10 Application
• Exhibit G: Funding Contribution Plan Correspondence
• Exhibit H: Detailed Quarterly Budget Correspondence
• Exhibit I: Project Management Plan Correspondence
• Exhibit J: Annual Work Plan Correspondence
• Exhibit K: Central Valley Project Financial Plan Correspondence
• Exhibit L: Q1 2019 Project Summary Schedule

 

 

[CNJRoss]

Reuters 5/22/19:
 

Trump administration holds off redirecting California's high-speed rail money

 

 

(Reuters) - The Trump administration on Wednesday agreed not to immediately redirect nearly $1 billion it is withholding from California’s high-speed rail project, one of several disputes between Republican Trump and the Democratic-controlled state.

 

In exchange, the state dropped its plans to ask a court to at least temporarily halt any planned shift in funds, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said.

 

On Tuesday, California sued in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to challenge the administration’s decision to withhold $929 million awarded in 2010 for a “bullet” train project hobbled by extensive delays and rising costs. The administration had rejected the state’s administrative appeal.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Los Angeles Times, 5/22/19:

On high-speed rail, Newsom cuts deal to protect federal grant while lawsuit proceeds

 

 

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday he had reached an agreement with the Trump administration not to redirect funds from a high-speed rail grant while California’s lawsuit against the federal government proceeds.

 

SNIP

 

“California and the Trump administration came to an agreement overnight that the federal government will not immediately re-obligate the funds to another project elsewhere in the United States,” the governor’s office said in a statement, adding that the pact was filed in the Northern District of California on Wednesday morning.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

The Fresno (CA) Bee, 6/13/19:

 

Editorial
 

Why shouldn’t we give up on high-speed rail? Because it can transform Valley and state

 

 

In today’s heated political climate, it is easy to lose sight of why the high-speed rail project was ever conceived. Its original purpose: To connect Northern and Southern California in an environmentally sound way. Electric, nonpolluting trains would whisk passengers from north to south, and vice versa, in far less time than it takes to drive. The spine of the system would be in the San Joaquin Valley, with the associated economic boost the project would generate.

 

SNIP

 

It is time to renew belief in the potential and promise of high-speed rail, and in the wherewithal of California to accomplish a major public work.

 

In particular, the plan for the initial operating segment in the Valley — with traditional rail connections to the Bay Area and Sacramento and short bus service to connect to rail in Southern California — is something all Californians should embrace. The authority must exert renewed discipline and vigor to get it up and running by 2028, the hoped-for year when passengers can start riding.

 

Otherwise, it is an epic failure all around.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

Los Angeles Times, 7/30/19
 

 

In a blow to the bullet train, California might shift billions to L.A., Bay Area projects

 

 

Key California lawmakers have devised a plan to shift billions of dollars from the Central Valley bullet train to rail projects in Southern California and the Bay Area, a strategy that could crush the dreams of high-speed rail purists.

 

The move is a response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan earlier this year to direct all of the remaining bullet train funds into the San Joaquin Valley and build a partial high-speed system from Bakersfield to Merced at a cost of $20.5 billion.

 

Assembly Democrats see greater public value in improving passenger rail from Burbank to Anaheim, relieving congestion on the busy Interstate 5 corridor before the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and putting additional money into San Francisco commuter rail. The proposal has been taken more seriously in recent weeks, and supporters think it will meet the tricky legal requirements of the high-speed rail project.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Mercury News, San Jose, CA 8/1/19

 

A not-so-high-speed train in the Central Valley could be a boon for the Bay Area 

 

Caltrain could see faster, more frequent service sooner rather than later

 

 

Caltrain could see faster, more frequent service sooner rather than later under a proposal that would shift billions of dollars from the Central Valley segment of the state’s bullet train project and distribute it to other parts of the state.

 

The conceptual plan, which was hatched by Democrats in Southern California and is a long way from a concrete proposal, could be a boon for Caltrain. It would scale back the middle section of the high-speed rail project by running slower diesel trains instead of electric ones in exchange for significantly increasing passenger rail service in both the Bay Area and Los Angeles, where populations are densest and traffic is most congested.

 

It’s not so much an abandonment of building the bullet train in California, said Pablo Espinoza, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, but a new way of getting there. The state could see some immediate upgrades where it needs it most without precluding a full build-out of the high-speed trains when funding allows.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Cal Matters, 6/14/20:

 

 

   Bullet train could be derailed 

 

 

 

Is this the end of the line for California’s misbegotten bullet train project?

 

A bipartisan majority of the state Assembly, including Speaker Anthony Rendon, has passed a resolution that directs the High-Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) to delay final contracts for the initial segment of the bullet train in the San Joaquin Valley until the Legislature appropriates $4.2 billion in state bonds.

 

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