Union Pacific trying to derail California’s bullet train? (Source: Central Valley Business Times)

Link: Central Valley Business Times

Union Pacific trying to derail California’s bullet train?

SACRAMENTO
May 11, 2010 5:38am

• Says it will block route from Bay Area to Central Valley

• Is it 21st Century train robbery?

California’s proposed high-speed passenger train could be derailed before it ever leaves the station. Union Pacific Railroad Company (NYSE: UNP) says it will fight the bullet train’s proposed route from the Bay Area to the Central Valley because it would impinge on the tracks of the UP’s freight trains.

The route proposed by the California High-Speed Rail Authority is “not acceptable," Union Pacific says in an April 23 letter to the authority, according to the San Jose Mercury News newspaper.

UP says in some cases, bullet trains would run too close to its tracks for good safety. In others, the $17.1 billion freight carrier says it simply will not sell its land for bullet train right-of-way and will unleash its lawyers if the Authority tries to use the state’s powers of eminent domain to get the property.

Critics of UP’s stance tell the Mercury News that it appears to be an attempt to squeeze more money out of the Authority for its property.