Charlie Baker derails T trains

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2015/06/charlie_baker_derails_t_trains



Charlie Baker derails T trains
Matt Stout
June 20, 2015

Gov. Charlie Baker is scaling back a number of planned projects and purchases, including more than $200 million in new (Chinese-built) T trains, as part of his administration’s move to pare down expenses it said the state cannot afford.

The Baker administration sliced roughly $125 million in projected spending for next year from the state’s capital budget used to fund an array of road, bridge and other infrastructure projects, taking with it millions in IT and higher education projects as well.

Kristen Lepore, Baker’s budget chief, said the moves were made with an eye toward fiscal responsibility and reducing the debt the state would owe as part of an overall $4.1 billion capital budget. It marked the first time in six years that the state wasn’t raising the so-called bond cap by $125 million, as former Gov. Deval Patrick had proposed before he left office.

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“The administration made strategic decisions on where and how to best allocate the state’s capital resources to achieve a manageable level of future debt,” administration officials wrote in a summary of its budget.