News item: Officials of the California High-Speed Rail Authority say a flat, straight stretch through the San Joaquin Valley connecting Merced and Bakersfield will likely be the first completed. Regional Manager Thomas Tracy told the Visalia City Council March 2 that the 800-mile project will be built in eight phases. The first segment, due by 2015, would stretch from Bakersfield to Merced on an initial run from San Diego to Sacramento. At its full 220 mph speed, the normally three-hour car trip from Merced to Bakersfield would take 45 minutes.
OK, fine, nice to be included on the first phase. Maybe I'll actually be able to board a HSR car on my own power one day. I'd been thinking that, by the time this thing was built, I'd be six feet under. But did they have to start with Merced as a first end-point? I'd had figured they'd want to open with some more glamorous destinations. What's wrong with Turlock?
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ReplyDeleteCLARIFICATION ON NEWS REPORTS RELATED TO
HIGH-SPEED TRAIN OPERATIONS IN CENTRAL VALLEY
Statement from Carrie Pourvahidi
Acting Executive Director
“Some news reports Tuesday suggested the state's first completed high-speed train segment would connect Bakersfield and Merced. No decision has been made on which section of the backbone link between Anaheim/Los Angeles and San Francisco will be the first to become operational. Current plans anticipate that a test track may be built on a flat stretch in the Central Valley somewhere between Bakersfield and Merced.
“The California High Speed Rail Authority has begun project-level environmental review in eight sections of the 800-mile statewide system, including the Central Valley. This is among a number of important steps that must be completed before a decision is made on which sections will become operational and in what order.”
Wow, I want to go just because it's 220 mph. Who cares where I end up?
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