California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined local elected leaders from Kern County and officials with the state’s High-Speed Rail Authority on Jan. 6 for a ceremonial pounding of the first symbolic spikes in the long-awaited track for high-speed trains.
“You want to be big, you’ve got to be big in big things,” Newsom said at the event. “This is the biggest economy in the United States of America … and it’s about damn time we have a high-speed rail system in the great state of California.”
He shrugged off criticisms from political opponents and those opposed to the project.
“To the cynics that are filled with cynicism that stand on the sidelines and don’t engage, we’re here making this work,” Newsom said. “Finally, we’re at the point where we’re going to start laying down this track in the next couple years.”…