California Governor Gavin Newsom kicked off this year by symbolically putting the first spikes into California’s long-delayed high speed rail line. Like everything else about this project, the event was a bit misleading. The track being laid in January was not track for an actual high speed train but a siding that would eventually allow construction of the actual track, though no contract to lay it had yet been signed.
More recently we’ve learned about ongoing funding problems with the project which needs another $7 billion by next summer to keep going.
During a budget hearing focused on transportation in the State Assembly on Wednesday, Helen Kerstein with the California Legislative Analyst’s Office told lawmakers the project faces a $7 billion budget gap and the funds need to be secured by next June. If not, Kerstein said it will create yet another delay…
