Will the California high-speed rail project move forward, or will politicians pull the plug? The fate of the program weighs in the balance as construction is about to begin.
Carolyn Lochhead of the San Francisco Chronicle sums up the current situation, with the Federal government at loggerheads over funding for high-speed rail and Californians taking sides:
"Supporters insist that California must build the project. The state is expected to add as many as 11 million more residents by 2025, reaching a population of 48 million. The alternatives to high-speed rail - more and expanded freeways, bigger airports and expansions of urban mass transit - will be just as costly, they argue."
Critics say that the project is a boondoggle, and that underestimated costs will mean the billions invested in the project will go to waste when the money isn't there to complete it.
For daily coverage of high-speed rail in the United States and beyond, visit The Railist.
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