Scott: 'Shocking' California Panel Warns of High-Speed Train Risk

Submitted by Anonymous on January 4, 2012 - 7:47am

Gov. Rick Scotts simple response Wednesday to a report that called for California to pull the emergency brake on funding $99 billion for a high-speed train was a sarcastic, You're kidding? Shocking!

Scotts comment came while he was speaking on Trey Radels morning radio show on 92.5 FOX in Southwest Florida.

On Tuesday, a group of transportation and financial experts assigned by the California Legislature to weigh the potential success for the South California-to-Bay Area high-speed rail warned of an immense financial risk to the state, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The project is currently slated to take until 2033 to complete, with all the current funding -- $6 billion -- going into a single stretch of track in the Central Valley, the Mercury News reported.

Last February, Scott, over the objection of many state legislators, turned down $2.4 billion from the federal government for a Florida line between Orlando and Tampa.

At the time, Scott cited anticipated increases in costs that would have to be covered by Florida and findings from the Libertarian Reason Foundation that questioned the ridership projections for the line.