The bullet train is off-track again
By Ralph Vartabedian
The rail authority’s inspector general warns that design changes violate state law.
To the long list of major problems bedeviling California’s bullet train, here’s a new one to add: The project now appears trapped in a financial and legal bind.
In order to afford the first section of California’s high-speed rail, from Merced to Bakersfield, the agency in charge of building the train recently proposed making significant unpleasant compromises, including stopping six miles short of downtown Bakersfield and three miles outside of downtown Merced, amid farm fields.
