Experts: Don't build $99 billion California bullet train

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oakland-tribune/ci_19668834

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Warning of an "immense financial risk" to the state, a renowned group of transportation and financial experts advised lawmakers Tuesday to pull the emergency brake on funding California's $99 billion high-speed train.

The Legislature created the high-speed rail peer review group to weigh the project's chances for success, and its sobering conclusions are the most striking -- and perhaps most influential -- analysis yet of the pivotal plan lawmakers will evaluate in coming months.

Former Caltrans chief Will Kempton, the group's chairman, said most troubling was the state's plan to spend all available funding -- $6 billion -- on a small stretch of track in the Central Valley and hope for the rest of the money later.