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High speed rail breaks ground

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The California High Speed Rail Authority broke ground this week in Fresno on the first leg of the bullet train which, eventually, will include a second route from Palmdale to Burbank. The system will extend from Sacramento to San Diego for a total of 800 miles with up to 24 stations, one of which would be the Palmdale Transportation Center.

With completion expected by 2029, the commuter line will be the nation’s first high-speed rail system. Local and statewide businesses are completing a majority of the early construction. As of September 2014, 40 small businesses had signed active contracts valued at $296 million. The first phase is called Construction Package 1, a 29-mile stretch from Madera County to Fresno County. The Palmdale to Burbank section proposes to connect the Antelope Valley to the San Fernando Valley by traveling from the Palmdale Transportation Center to a Burbank Airport Station.

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford is an advocate of the Palmdale depot and was a featured speaker last year at two U.S. high speed rail conferences. He stated in a press release this week that the new rail system will “… help revive our economy and manufacturing sector by creating millions of new jobs.”

Gov. Jerry Brown is the most ardent elected supporter of the high speed rail project and said this week that the project forms a “connection” between early Californian and present and future residents.

“The high speed rail links us from the past to the future,” Brown said. “It links us from the south to Fresno and north; this is truly a California project bringing us together today.”

The expected cost has risen from $33 billion presented to voters in 2008, to as much as $69 billion last year.

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