The California High-Speed Rail Authority released the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement for both the Merced-to-Fresno and Fresno-to-Bakersfield sections of the project.

"These reports - the first environmental documents for true high-speed rail in the nation - represent a major milestone for California and for bringing high-speed rail to the United States, said Thomas Umberg, chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors. "We are leading the nation's high-speed rail vision and remain on track to break ground next year.

"True high-speed rail connects major cities across significant distances and does it in a way that is faster, cleaner, safer and more convenient than alternatives for traveling through California. California's high-speed trains will connect Los Angeles to San Francisco in just 2 hours and 40 minutes. These documents represent the closest point California and its federal partners have ever been to implementing true high-speed rail - just because it's never been done before is no barrier to it being done now."

The reports for both Central Valley sections and supporting documents can be found at www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov.