California high speed rail segment receives federal approval

Critics, however, say California can ill afford the $68 billion project that farmers' unions regard as an "imminent threat" to some of the most agriculturally productive land in the United States.

Critics worry that funding for the project will eventually run dry before the rail network can be completed, leaving California with a "train to nowhere" in its agrarian midsection.

Cost estimates for the project, the most ambitious public works endeavor to date in California, have ballooned to $68 billion from $45 billion previously.

[link to news.yahoo.com]