State & Local
California's High-Speed Rail Draws $179 Million in Federal Aid as Cost Soars

Published August 09, 2011
| FoxNews.com

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This image provided by the California High-Speed Rail Authority shows an artist's conception of a high-speed rail station in California.
The Obama administration announced this week it's giving California $179 million to fill in portions of a high-speed rail that will travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco, but the project is increasingly being portrayed as a local transportation boondoggle, with the cost for building the first section billions more than originally estimated.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, while governor, said the total $43 billion cost was too prohibitive to create the 220-mile per hour system, but his successor, Gov. Jerry Brown, has accepted federal cash, in what will now be divided between three areas.

“California voters and train passengers have said it loud and clear, they want access to a world-class rail system in California,â€