Contractors claim Union Pacific is delaying California bullet train project

LOS ANGELES - The most ambitious rail project of California's future is increasingly dependent on the cooperation of the very railroad that shaped the state's past - and there are signs that their relationship is growing strained.

Contractors building a 31-mile section of the high-speed rail project in the Central Valley have complained that the Union Pacific Railroad is causing delays and significant cost increases. The allegation could lead to a delay claim against the state.

The friction involves Union Pacific's right of way, the 100-foot-wide passage granted under President