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Students rally for high-speed rail
| Wednesday, Mar 26 2008 4:58 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Mar 27 2008 7:34 AM
A crew of college students brought its tour in support of high-speed rail to Bakersfield on Wednesday, promoting both the concept of the rail line and the $10 billion bond on November’s ballot.
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“This is so incredibly important,” said Andrew Peake, a Bakersfield resident currently attending University of California, Davis. It would help solve both the problem of too many cars on the highway and too much pollution in the air, he said.
“Anyone who’s been stuck on the 99 outside of Fresno, I think they’ll support this,” he said.
The proposed rail system would connect San Francisco with Los Angeles and would run right through — and stop in — Bakersfield.
About 20 students were at the rally in Bakersfield, part of a group of 30 touring the state this week. The other 10 had been detached for an event in Palmdale.
“We’re here to demonstrate the widespread excitement for high-speed rail,” said Roxanna Farshchi, a student at University of California, Santa Barbara. She said if the $40 billion rail system isn’t built, the state will have to expand its highways and airports at an even greater cost. And the state needs to cut back on carbon emissions and other air pollution, she said.
The group was joined by Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall and Fran Florez, the Shafter city councilwoman and candidate for Assembly who serves as vice chairwoman of the state’s High Speed Rail Authority.