High Speed Rail Moving Forward

The State Senate has narrowly voted to approve the release of bond money for the first stretch of high-speed rail from south of Madera to north of Bakersfield.

(Read more about the vote here.)

At stake for property owners on the section of line between Merced and Fresno are up to 213 homes and up to 237 businesses. If the project proceeds, “Between 614 and 701 people would have to find new homes, and up to 1,426 acres of important farmland would be taken over for a right-of-way that would be between 100 and 300 feet wide.”