Despite shortsighted right-wing Republican opposition, high-speed rail (HSR) is moving forward in the United States of America. Soon we won't have to fly across the Atlantic or Pacific to experience world-class passenger train service. President Obama and Vice President Biden get much of the credit for revitalizing passenger rail travel by demanding a federal allocation of $8 billion for high-speed projects as part of the 2009 economic stimulus package.
While conservative Republican governors like Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Scott of Florida have denied their residents high-speed rail by rejecting federal funding, and right-wing House Republicans like Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) passes a meaningless anti-California HSR amendment to the Fiscal Year 2013 Transportation, Housing & Urban Development (THUD) bill, progressive states like California are pushing ahead into the 21st Century with ambitious HSR projects. The latest good news for HSR advocates comes from The Golden State where last Friday in Sacramento, lawmakers in the Senate approved SB 1029 -- $4.5 billion in construction financing through the sale of bonds, including $2.6 billion for the initial segment in the Central Valley for the bullet train line between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The legislative victory means that California will now qualify for another $3.2 billion in federal funding.
