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Judge Rejects Northern California Route For High-Speed Rail

SACRAMENTO (CBS/AP) -- A judge has ordered California to scrap plans to run bullet trains from the Central Valley and up the San Francisco Peninsula in the latest bump for a $99 billion project.

A judge in Sacramento ruled Thursday that the state must rescind the planned route from Gilroy to San Jose and up the Peninsula pending further study.

A similar ruling was made two years ago after the cities of Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton sued to block the route.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority conducted extra studies and reapproved the same route, leading to another suit. Construction is scheduled to begin next year.

The rail authority said the ruling is not a major setback.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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