The once promising bullet train being built across California seems less and less of a reality as time drags on. Construction costs rise and a finish date moves years in the future. This had left many California taxpayers outraged at the idea they are paying millions and millions in taxes on something that they may never really see come to fruition.
Judge Edward M. Ross is one of those people who understands the frustration all too well.
Once a month, Ross makes the drive to the central valley and hears land disputes involving the California bullet train. He is the judiciary's only hope as every Kings County Superior Court judge has refused to hear the cases.
“When I was asked to handle these railroad cases, I was told it may take a year,” Ross said during a recent hearing. “Now I think it may take a lifetime. OK, no problem.”
The California High-Speed Rail Authority estimated eight years ago it would cost $332 million to acquire properties for the bullet train route spanning the Central Valley’s orchards, vineyards, dairies and cities.
The project is now 13 years behind schedule and $44 billion over its initial budget.
Ross has deemed his what was suppose to be temporary job a now lifetime job as the bullet train process moves slower and slower, testing his patience.
Read more at the LA Times.