Free Republic

California’s high speed rail project is facing a financial reckoning after the Federal Railroad Administration declared it in default on $4 billion in federal grants. The latest report from the Department of Transportation exposes years of mismanagement, missed deadlines, and unrealistic ridership projections, raising serious doubts about whether the project will ever be completed. The numbers tell the story. The rail system was originally planned as an 800-mile network, connecting San Francisco to San Diego. Over time, the scope shrunk to 500 miles, then 171 miles, and now just 119 miles. The federal review describes the project as a Sisyphean...

It could be the end of the line for the "train to nowhere." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has released a scathing report exposing what he said is the unfeasibility of California's long-troubled high-speed rail project — and is threatening to pull the plug on a plan that already has the federal government on the hook for $6.9 billion while Californians are underwriting an additional $9 billion. Duffy said that the federal government is moving to terminate around $4 billion it has currently obligated to the project unless the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) can prove it is tenable. He blasted...

Federal officials are investigating why two planes got dangerously close on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia Airport earlier this month despite the airport being equipped with an advanced surface radar system that’s designed to help prevent such close calls. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that they are investigating the May 6 incident when a Republic Airways jet had to abort takeoff because a United Airlines plane was still taxiing across the runway. In audio from the tower that ABC obtained from the website www.LiveATC.net, the air traffic control said to the...

For 90 terrifying seconds, air traffic controllers responsible for guiding aircraft into Newark Liberty International Airport could do nothing more than pray. A 'fried' piece of copper wiring momentarily wiped out their radar and radio feeds on May 9 - leaving planes flying blind into one of the world's busiest airports. FAA planners dismissed the doomsday scenario as an 'extremely remote' possibility when they relocated controllers to a new site in Philadelphia last year. But an internal report leaked to DailyMail.com suggests senior officials had ample warning that the regulator's antiquated communications system was on the brink of collapse. The...

May 11 (UPI) — Operations are returning to normal after a unrelated equipment issues prompted ground stops at Newark Liberty and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airports Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. “Technicians are working to address the problem,” the FAA said of the Newark issue. “The FAA briefly slowed aircraft in and out of the airport while we ensured redundancies were working as designed,” the agency said on X. “Operations have returned to normal.” As of Sunday afternoon, at least 150 flights to and from Newark were delayed and 80 were canceled. The FAA issued the ground stop Sunday morning...

Air Traffic Control lost radar for 90 seconds at Newark Airport on Friday. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), there was a telecommunications outage at Newark Liberty International Airport. “There was a telecommunications outage that impacted communications and radar display at Philadelphia TRACON Area C, which guides aircraft in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport airspace. The outage occurred around 3:55 a.m. on Friday, May 9, and lasted approximately 90 seconds,” the FAA said on Friday morning. ... United Airlines pulled 35 round-trip flights a day following a radar outage at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey...