California High-Speed Rail Gets Go-Ahead

The final legal obstacle for California’s bullet-train plan was overcome Wednesday when the California Supreme Court decided not to review a lawsuit against the state’s funding plan. This means that the construction can legally begin. The issue was whether the California High-Speed Rail Authority had acted properly in selling $8.6 billion in bonds approved by voters in 2008 for a project now projected to cost $68 billion. A superior court judge in 2013 had ruled in favor of farmers and residents who sued to stop the project. However an appeals court ruled in favor of the train officials, and the state supreme court’s decision not to review leaves that in place. This represents a huge victory for Gov. Jerry Brown, who is up for reelection and has been a loud supporter of the project.