Quote:

LA Times
The political and management challenges facing California's bullet train project grew more complicated Thursday, when the chief executive of the $98.5-billion effort suddenly announced his resignation, just months before construction was supposed to begin.
Roelof van Ark, 60, an engineering manager with considerable international high-speed rail experience, announced his departure, raising new questions about the program's stability at a crucial juncture. At the same time, Thomas Umberg, a former state legislator, said he was stepping down as chairman of the California High Speed Rail Authority board, which is directing the project.

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The changes came a week after an independent review panel issued a scathing critique of the project and refused to recommend that the state issue billions of dollars in bonds to help fund construction of an initial, 130-mile Central Valley section of track.

The expert panel, charged with safeguarding the public's interest in the project, raised doubts about almost every aspect of the project and concluded that the current plan "is not financially feasible." The original cost of the project has tripled, and two recent public opinion polls indicate that voters now would reject the project, which they had previously approved.

Full article here:
[www.latimes.com]