Today, the California High-Speed Rail Authority's plans for the first bullet-train in the US appeared to be back on track when it sought approval from an appeals court regarding the issuance of $8 billion worth of bonds to fund the ambitious project.
Bloomberg said that the bullet-train plans were temporarily shelved in November when a state judge had blocked the CHSRA to issue the bonds because of a committee's failure to adequately provide the reasons for the issuance. The said judge recommended the train authority to withdraw from its funding plan. The decision at that time threatened the CHSRA's plans and further increased the costs for its bullet-train project, according to state officials. The news agency said that the lawyers for the authority will be telling the Sacramento-based appeals court that the committee's decision is not reviewable, and should it be otherwise, it members have sufficient grounds to approve the train project.
In a court filing, Deputy Attorney General Stephanie Zook said, "The committee had all the evidence it needed to authorize the bonds: the Bond Act itself, which declares the high-speed rail system to be in the public interest."
The bond sale is not the only hurdle the CHSRA has been trying to overcome to make the bullet-train project a reality. Aside from waning support from the public about its $8 billion project, the US Congress has already cut funds to support such projects two years ago, Bloomberg said. Moreover, landowners, farmers and taxpayer groups have waged war against the project for its deviation to the original proposal that was voter-approved in 2008, which was considered illegal and a violation of environmental laws.
In the original proposal, Californians had given their approval o a $9.95 billion bond sale to help finance the project, with the rest to be paid by private investors and federal funds. Moreover, the plan will have the bullet-train share track with other existing commuter and freight lines.
