California is mercilessly mocked for 'world's most pointless crossing' high-speed rail bridge that cost $11 BILLION

DAILY MAIL ^ | 5 May 2024 | ISABELLE STANLEY

[george76]

The High Speed Rail Authority shared an update on the Fresno River Viaduct ..

They were widely mocked with Elon Musk and Billy Markus piling in ..

California has been mercilessly mocked for boasting about completing the 'world's most pointless crossing' to nowhere at a cost of $11billion.

The California High Speed Rail Authority shared an update on the Fresno River Viaduct in Madera County last week, proudly saying it was one of the 'first completed high-speed rail structures'.

The Tweet did not get the reaction officials were hoping for with Elon Musk and Dogecoin creator Billy Markus piling in to mock the project.

The Viaduct has taken nine years to build and has cost taxpayers $11 billion as part of the state's long-delayed, bullet-train plan attempting to link San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Commenting on photos showing the bridge stopping at only 1,600ft long with either end floating unconnected in the air, Markus tweeted: 'This is the most remarkable human achievement ever.'

Sharing the rail authority's tweet he added: '1600 feet of high speed rail after 9 years and 11 billion dollars it takes about 5 minutes to walk 1600 feet so a high speed rail for that is a really big deal.'

He added: 'Wow so impressive, can’t wait until year 2400 for this to finish for 700 quadrillion dollars.'

Musk then chimed in, adding a crying face emoji.

...

So far $11 billion of taxpayer money has been sunk into the scheme which aims to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco.

...

It will take an estimated $100 billion more to finish the project and link San Francisco to Los Angeles with many calling for the project to be scrapped.

[TexasGator]

“$11 BILLION for that? That’s a crime against humanity.”

Not exactly ...

[Mouton]

11 Billion for THAT. Even Tony Soprono’s crew could have done it for 1% of that including the graft.

[TornadoAlley3]

Could have had a maglev

[catnipman]

“I’ll note there are no train tracks on this slab of concrete...

actually, it’s not even a slab: you can bands of light coming through the deck:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.8380791,-119.9238681,3a,75y,352.68h,91.2t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sa2e5QkuasmiKevWg-7edfg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Da2e5QkuasmiKevWg-7edfg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D185.03079%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu

[Vigilanteman]

Just for reference, the section of the Tohoku Shinkansen in Japan from Omiya to Morioka is roughly 30% shorter than the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Construction begin in 1975 and was completed and operational a mere seven years later.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Sounds like Boss Tweed and his “modest” Courthouse. At lest the courthouse was finished at sixty times the original estimated cost to build.

[BipolarBob]

With apologies to Robert Palmer:

How can it be permissible?
They've compromised all principles
That kind of theft is mythical
It's anything but typical
It's a craze Dems endorse, money's a powerful force
You're obliged to conform when there's no other course
The promises used to sound good to me, but now I find them

simply resistible
simply resistible

[Publius]

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

-- Percy Bysshe Shelley

[navysealdad]

China’s high-speed rail network had reached 45,000 kilometers — or just under 28,000 miles

[Elsie]

Surely there are some random zeros floating around in the money value.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

And after sanity returns to California, if ever, these unconnected structures shall be known as . . .

RAILHENGE!!!

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

Where else? The pockets of democraps.

[palmer]

They should save a step and turn it into a bike path right now.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

What the hell is that? It goes nowhere. It’s a freakin’ pier

[know.your.why]

Whats the magnetic heading of it? If its close to 34-16 then yeah it would be pretty dependable. Put up an air sock and entry/exit ramps and parking, fuel, tiedowns...and a strip club across the street.

[Brian Griffin]

What could be done is to have ‘bullet’ railway cars.

A bridge would only have to support one car at a time.

Cars could come from various points such as say Ventura and Santa Ana, meet at a passenger tranfer point, and then go off to say Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, etc.

This distributed system would better serve huge metropolitan areas and would be less vulnerable to terrorist track sabotage.

[Brian Griffin]

I rode a high speed train (250kph) in Spain. It was a nice trip.

“With a price tag of just €17.7 million per kilometre, Spain’s construction expenses for high-speed rail remain well below the €45.5 million incurred by other high-speed rail nations.”

[I noticed no publication date.]

https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/news/147158/spanish-high-speed-rail/

[moviefan8]

Here are different pictures of the 101/280/680 interchange in San Jose.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/295196950563804431/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/jerry-brown-back-when-he-was-the-governor-of-the-state-of-california-halted-funding-for-the-hwy-1012—85990674118224699/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/113223378125859431/

[Brian Griffin]

In California, mountain ranges make construction difficult. That’s probably why California is doing the easier Central Valley (?) part.

[Brian Griffin]

They could have mounded up dirt for most of the way for far less.