Not a chance... It'll be triple that. We just installed a 14 mile rail line here in Seattle at $179 million per mile. Estimating $50 million per mile is LOW...
The fact is we simply cannot afford this. At all. The estimate is $2 TRILLION to deploy across the US. Assuming today's bond rates (4.625%), we have a monthly interest expense of $7.5 BILLION. Yes, $7.5 BILLION a month for just the interest (not including the principal).
Assuming one out of 10 workers in the US use the train every day, that works out to $500 per MONTH in subsidies. Just in the interest costs alone.
$500 per rider, per month. Just in interest costs. Not including operational costs. Principal costs. Maintenance.
$23 per day per rider, just to pay the interest. Not the actual costs. Just interest.
So how does everyone else feel about tossing in $3 a day to pay the interest for each of those riders? How about tossing in another buck or two a day to cover their operational costs? Spend $5-$7 per day for your neighbor to ride his trains?
These are the questions that Willie loves to avoid...
The $50 million per mile figure was from a congressional research bureau earlier this year.
I’ll defer to real numbers...
Repeatedly !!
These are the questions that Willie loves to avoid...Actually, since now you're just throwing out outlandish figures to disrupt this thread,