Locator: 49002BULLETTRAIN.
From one of the sources above:
California High-Speed Rail Authority board members heard words of frustration and disappointment from Merced officials Thursday – nearly a week after a report from the agency suggested possibly removing Merced from the bullet train’s initial operating segment.
Local officials like Frank Quintero, Merced’s deputy city manager, say they were given no advance notice before the authority released its 2025 Supplemental Project Update Report on Friday, Aug. 22.
Quintero, who addressed the board of directors in person during the public comment session of Thursday’s meeting in Sacramento, said the city of Merced has considered the High-Speed Rail Authority as a partner going back to the project’s inception more than two decades ago.
Despite that partnership, Quintero said Merced recently felt abandoned, receiving “no communication, and no courtesy heads up” prior to the release of the report that included the potential for Merced to be left off of the route for initial operations.
“We felt blindsided on Friday, Aug. 22 when the project update was released suggesting Merced be resequenced,” Quintero said.
Quintero added that Merced has always stood by the authority when they needed letters of support or someone to testify on behalf of the project.
“We are grateful for the optimism high-speed rail has brought to the community, but that brilliance is now tarnished,” Quintero said.
“We hope that a crystal clear line of communication is reestablished between the High-Speed Rail Authority and the city of Merced. We hope to rekindle the partnership with the authority, rather than feel like we don’t belong and (have) been abandoned.”
While other local officials were more subdued in their remarks toward the board, the feeling was palpable that Merced had not been treated in good faith.
The 31-mile segment that has not yet been cleared environmentally is the segment from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to Anaheim (think Disneyland).
