Senate Says: We Want High Speed Rail!

We're one step closer to high speed rail, California: The Senate has approved a bill to rewrite the $10 billion bond measure slated for the November ballot— but not without some tweakage by one Senator Leland Yee (D-SF/San Mateo). Yee lobbied for the restoration of language that will allocate funds to ensure that the line begins and ends at the Transbay Terminal. The train will pass through the San Joaquin and Antelope Valleys, with pit stops along other Bay Area points and L.A.; Anaheim marks the end of the line. While the original plan allowed for other, smaller corridors to be tunneled out along the coast without providing a direct route between L.A. and SF (logical!) Yee's amendments demands that the bullet train function as just that— a direct line between two major cities. Golf claps all around— reception of the measure has been geenrally positive, though it must still go before the Senate Appropriations Committee.
· Yee Fights to Save SF-to-LA High Speed Rail [CA Chronicle]