America’s hopes for its first high-speed rail line were kindled in 2008, when California voters approved a ballot measure for a bullet train whisking riders between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours. It’s a trip that can take six hours or more by car. The estimated price tag: $33 billion. The target completion date: 2020. Status update? Today, California’s high-speed rail authority is preparing to lay its first tracks at roughly that same cost. But the section under construction now will run about one-third of the original distance, connecting Bakersfield and Merced, and is expected to open in 2033. #train #highspeedrail #california