Even California's Analysts Are Confused About Bullet Train Fate
- Nonpartisan legislative analysts stumped by governor’s stance
- Newsom said no path for linking Los Angeles to San Francisco
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Even California’s studiously deliberate bureaucrats are confused by what Governor Gavin Newsom intends to do with the state’s high-speed rail project.
Two weeks ago, the Democrat shocked people around the state and country by appearing to walk away from an ambitious $77 billion bullet train that has been in the works for more than a decade. He said in a speech that there "simply isn’t a path" for the original plan linking Los Angeles and San Francisco and that he wants to focus on finishing one segment running only through California’s less-densely populated agricultural heart. But Newsom, who took office in January, also said he would continue preliminary work on the entire system and seek more federal and private funding.