Calfornia Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) just announced in his State of the State address to the legislature that he’s giving up on statewide high-speed rail from Sacramento to San Diego:
!! AP: California Gov. Gavin Newsom abandoning plan for high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco, says too costly.
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) February 12, 2019
“Let’s be real,” he says a little too late:
Gov Newsom on high speed rail:
“Let’s be real… the project as currently planned would cost too much and take too long.”— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) February 12, 2019
It’s almost as if conservatives warned about this from Day 1:
Gov. Newsom says high speed rail project is too expensive and would take too long, acknowledges lack of transparency and oversight, adds that abandoning project would mean billions of wasted $$ and years of wasted time. Says capacity does exist to build HSR in Central Valley.
— AirTalk (@AirTalk) February 12, 2019
He does want to build around 165 miles of track in the Central Valley between Bakersfield and Merced:
Making big news, Newsom says he's going to cut back the high speed rail project to only cover a segment from Merced to Bakersfield.
— Taryn Luna (@TarynLuna) February 12, 2019
And he plans on keeping the $3.5 billion grant given to the state during the Obama administration:
“I have no interest in sending back 3.5 billion dollars allocated for this project.” Gavin Newsom rebukes expansive #highspeedrail project from Northern to Southern CA, but advocates a high speed rail heading into Central Valley @FOX40 pic.twitter.com/xJpuMBCBDU
— Joe Khalil (@JoeKhalilTV) February 12, 2019
BS. The state should have to give it back to the U.S. Treasury.
***
Related:
Feds to audit CA high-speed rail project as funding flounders https://t.co/6MaiVBkmnS
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 15, 2018
Sound familiar? Joe Biden joins push to 'go big' on high speed rail spending http://t.co/wRQ0E4IB2F
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 19, 2015