High-Speed Train Board Approves Federal Stimulus Proposal

[gcomeau]

http://www.pr-inside.com/high-speed-train-board-approves-federal-r1238685.htm

California high-speed train officials Thursday approved a list of shovel-ready construction projects likely to qualify for $8 billion in federal stimulus funding for high-speed trains.

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"We are confident that California's system is well ahead of every other high-speed train project in the country and should be a leading candidate to receive stimulus funding," said Board Chairman Quentin Kopp. "Ours is the only one with billions of dollars in voter-approved state funding committed to the project, with environmental clearances already in place and with construction elements already identified and ready to go."

The project elements selected by the Board on Thursday are spread throughout California's planned 800-mile system. They include.

1. The entire Los Angeles-to-Anaheim and San Francisco-to-San Jose corridors, where the Authority is expected to have completed the project level environmental document, and qualified and selected design build teams to begin construction of the sections by the 2012 deadline.

2. Identification, selection and negotiation of right-of-way acquisition in the Merced-to-Bakersfield section, including the system's planned maintenance facility near Merced.

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"Woohoo!" says the guy who lives in San Jose...

[pleah]

1. K&R