Tuesday, July 15, 2008

With gas prices high, California picks route for high-speed train from LA to San Francisco


(Photo showing alternate plans for high-speed rail from Flickr and photographer lazy Tom/ Marcel Marchon)

News Update 4: A high-speed train line that has languished on the drawing boards for years has gotten a push from the rising price of gasoline, which is about $5 a gallon in California. In a unanimous vote, the state’s High Speed Rail Authority has selected a route for the 700-mile, 2½-hour trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Next comes a place on the November ballot for voters to OK a $40 billion bond issue and a state law to assure that’s legal. There is some environmental opposition to the route, Pacheco Pass (blue in picture) which goes through some undeveloped land. The California Air Resources Board said a high-speed train line would cut greenhouse gases by 1 million metric tons a year. (Source: ClimateWire, Greenwire, Environmental Law & Policy Center)

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