Attorneys for Central Valley landowners are telling a Sacramento County judge that California's high-speed rail trains would not be fast enough to shuttle people between San Francisco and Los Angeles in two hours and 40 minutes as voters were told.
Attorney Stuart Flashman told a judge Thursday that the travel times rail officials are citing don't account for slowdowns in urban areas. He says the modeling also presumes speeds of 220 mph through the steep Tehachapi Mountains, which isn't possible.
Both sides are arguing the latest phase of a lawsuit over whether the $68 billion bullet train complies with what voters were promised in 2008.
Deputy Attorney General Sharon O'Grady argued the rail authority is legally allowed to rely on its own experts, who say the travel times are possible.
