[M II A II R II K]

Pacheco Pass high-speed rail route wins again


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAI91F7CUS.DTL

(09-03) 04:00 PDT Sacramento --

For the third time in as many years, the High-Speed Rail Authority on Thursday chose the Pacheco Pass to speed trains between the Bay Area and Central Valley.

Despite pleas from those who favor an alignment over the Altamont Pass, and Peninsula critics of plans to run high-speed trains on the Caltrain right-of-way, the authority voted 7-0, with two members absent, to reaffirm earlier decisions and approved required environmental studies.

But the decision may not be the last.

"If you approve this, you are going to be heading back to court again and, I would predict, to another adverse decision," said Stuart Flashman, an attorney representing Menlo Park and Atherton in a suit that forced the authority to revisit the environmental study and alignment choice.