Let's build HSR over those mountains first
The California High-Speed Rail Authority should build the Bakersfield-Palmdale-Los Angeles route first, instead of the planned train to nowhere.
There are a number of good reasons for building this route first:
* The expensive part would be done; we would not have to suffer all of the budget killer extras because mountains and earthquake zones are harder. The land acquisition for this route will only get more expensive, so get it done while property prices are depressed.
* The new route through the Tehachapi Mountains could be used by freight trains should the project fail.
* The prototype cars would be tested on a more difficult route, not a flat run through the valley.
* And the new trains could actually carry people instead of the Amtrak buses that now join the north and south rail systems.
If we, the taxpayers, are going to support this project, let us build a test route that would have some value, not some duplicate route through the valley.
Robert Hughes
Bakersfield
