Taking a bullet for fast train

Re “As high-speed rail route hits home, local alarm grows,” June 10

California High Speed Rail Authority board member Lou Correa said that he detected “a little bit of NIMBYism” regarding the reaction to bullet train plans. He should get used to it.

Affluent neighborhoods have successfully fought intrusive development that would have affected their quality of life, and now working-class neighborhoods are doing the same.

Regarding the bullet train, this is just the start. The route cuts through the very heart of the Los Angeles metropolis, an area made up mostly of poor and working-class neighborhoods. My own home is a quarter-mile from the planned route, and I am told to expect additional vibrations and noise every hour of the day (over and above the existing trains and freeways).

Did the planners actually think that we would not complain?

Stephen Mills

Glendale

The protesters claim the bullet train would lower their quality of life, but I suspect some might want a windfall by bumping up the buy-out money.

I say we respect these people’s fine lifestyles and reroute the bullet trains along the interstate highways. We won’t have to buy out any property, and the center median is perfect for a set of rails. There are no sharp turns, and the rail lines would be protected on both sides by the highway.

It would also work as an incentive to reduce auto traffic. When people in cars see the bullet trains whiz by them at 200 miles per hour, how many would decide to take the train next time?

Gene Herd

Valley Glen