Posted on 03/05/2016 7:13:16 AM PST by george76
California will need to double down on support of the bullet train by digging deeper into the state's wallet and accepting a three-year delay in completing the project's initial leg, a new business plan for the 220-mph system shows.
Rail planners have turned their construction plans upside down, attempting to fit the mega-project within the state's limited budget.
The 2016 business plan, released last month, shows that the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco rail link has proved to be politically and technically more complicated to build than foreseen in 2008, when voters agreed to help finance the project with a $9-billion bond.
The plan acknowledges the biggest of those problems: The costly and geologically complex crossing of the Southern California mountains cannot be completed by 2022, as the rail authority had long contended.
A Times analysis in October concluded that the plan to bore 36 miles of deep tunnels through the mountains, lay 300 miles of track, build a half-dozen stations and install high-voltage systems along the route almost certainly could not be completed by 2022 and within the projected budget.
...
unclear on how the segment from the Central Valley to Los Angeles will be paid for.
...
The Legislature has committed a quarter of the state's greenhouse gas fees to the project through 2020. Under the plan, the rail authority would use the revenues through 2024 and then seek to borrow $5.2 billion against the future fees from 2025 to 2050.
...
Congress is never going to allocate more money to a project that lacks the ridership numbers, speeds, private funding and voter support once promised," Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock), chairman of the House rail subcommittee, said in a statement.
"Without the billions in funding they need, the authority's change in plans amounts to nothing more than wishful thinking,
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
California is already broke.
This boondoogle will make them broker.
And then they will demand a federal bailout.
... build a half-dozen stations - which means that what ever speed this so-called high speed train will have to slow, stop and then restart - in other words, it will never reach its top speed - except in short stretches. Later, more stations will be added further slowing the train down, until it will not only be faster to drive, but airline tickets will be cheaper.
Californians, idiots wasting 6 billion for starters and likely many times that when the cost over-runs and delays are counted.
B O O N D O G G L E
Who would have ever thought this could happen with all the rocket scientist politicians behind the project?
The initial cost was quoted at about 20% of what today’s accepted cost will be, and that is probably too low.
Since they can’t go LA - SF, how about Bakersfield to Stockton. That ought to be a cheaper build.
The question is which will happen first—completion of the train or the big earthquake that costs billions of dollars in recovery funds.
CA keeps voting for useless crap like this, they deserve to go broke. They created the mess, they can fix it with their own money.
Liberals love money losing choo choo trains because they say they are fun and cool. Advice to liberals. Drive like everyone else. We don’t want to pay for your stinking choo choo train.
This boon doodle continues to violate the very law that set it up
It works well in Japan - their rail system is amazing. And it isn’t that expensive. I paid about $300 to go on the Nozomi from Yokohama to Hiroshima and it was about a three hour ride. It’s really remarkable. Beats the ones in Europe, but those also beat anything we have here. It’s kind of embarrassing that we drive everywhere here when better options exist - but it would be an extreme major undertaking to convert and build and also change our way of thinking. We need to not be so conceited to disdain the accomplishments of other countries. Europe’s highways are also superior to ours. Makes me wonder why we settle for substandards in the USA.
A new Bullet Train concept is being considered by the clowns in Sacramento where the passengers themselves become the bullets.
Rather than drilling tunnels through the mountains, riders will be provided with helmets and shot from cannons (like a real circus act) over the mountains into giant nets.
Instead of a ribbon cutting ceremony Governor Brown will light cannon fuzes while wearing a clown outfit
There are over 100 million Japanese in an area the size of Montana.
Given that population density, trains make sense.
And what’s so “superior” about Europe’s highways?
The USA built thousands of ships, planes, tanks, trucks and armed and trained millions of young soldiers, fought and won a two ocean war in less time and probably for less money than California will waste on this needless boondoggle. What a country we have become!
Sorry friend every Californian on Az interstates are slow moving obstacles for us desert Az drivers. ;D)
I thought the state was making a killing on that “Cap and Tax” deal on energy?
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