First U.S. high-speed rail approved for construction in California
Skift Take
Whether or not California will be able to deliver a real high-speed line is still to be determined, but this first step should get us closer to finding out if they can get the early stages right.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority won approval Thursday from a federal railroad oversight board to start construction this summer on the first leg of what would be the nation's first bullet train.
In a 67-page decision issued Thursday, the Surface Transportation Board ruled 2-1 that the state could begin work on the first 65 miles of the project from Merced to Fresno, as long as it maintains the current route and follows through on promises to mitigate damage to the environment caused by construction.
The STB's ruling removes a key hurdle for the rail authority to start construction of the $68 billion system in the Central Valley. A ruling against the state could have caused substantial delays and cost ove
