The price of the California bullet train project jumped sharply Friday when the state rail authority announced that the cost of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco would be $77.3 billion and could rise as high as $98.1 billion — an uptick of at least $13 billion from estimates two years ago.Even for California, $98 billion is a lot of money. And the left wonders why we laugh at them?
The rail authority also said the earliest trains could operate on a partial system between San Francisco and Bakersfield would be 2029 — four years later than the previous projection. The full system would not begin operating until 2033.
Best comment over there:
I love these fairy tales in California that always start out with "Once upon a time there was a handsome "Social Justice Warrior" and they always, always, always end along the lines of "and the Social Justice Warrior turned out to actually be a succubus that destroyed all of the people paying his/her salary and the politicians lived happily ever after because the people paying their salary are stupid and never, ever, ever learn. The End.
As a number of commenters observed, you could build a lot of desalination plants for that much money. It appears all U.S. taxpayers are paying for this, in part. Apparently an Obama bowl dream.
Which will happen First? Elon Musk puts people on Mars. Los Angelos to SF/ Stockton bullet train puts passengers anywhere.
ReplyDeleteHere in Texas I get the impression the California imports are the ones behind the efforts to kill our high speed train projects. Presently we have two, both working through Dallas. One plans a line from Dallas to Houston with only one stop in between. Thus the train actually will be at speed for a decent amount of time instead of constantly accelerating and decelerating as I see in the California project. The other line is a much shorter line from Fort Worth to Dallas that would effectively replace an existing commuter line. Eventually the second line is to be extended out to Abilene, which would be an interesting run if they could do it in an hour (presently a three hour drive). Also still being considered is an extension south of Fort Worth to waco, then Austin and finally San Antonio.
ReplyDeleteThe Dallas to Houston run is estimated at a cost of 18 Billion (cheap land). No idea what the Fort Worth to Dallas line is projected to cost. The major point however is they intended to start breaking ground next year. Coalitions against it include the Sheriffs who don't like the idea of suspects traveling from Houston to Dallas in 90 minutes.
There's a good chance that California will pass state-wide single-payer health insurance next year. Many Democrats are campaigning on it and Californians seem to love the idea.
ReplyDeleteDamn the torpedoes - full speed ahead!