By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times (TNS), Herald-Mail Media; September 10, 2020
LOS ANGELES — It was just last year that Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would need to downsize California’s ambitious bullet train project, because the state could afford only a limited system from Merced to Bakersfield.
But even the viability of that scaled-down $20.4 billion plan is becoming uncertain as construction costs rise in the San Joaquin Valley, expected revenues are under pressure and land acquisition problems continue to mount.