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The dream of high-speed rail in California is taking longer and costing more
San Jose Mercury News ^ | March 14, 2017 | By KURT SNIBBE

Posted on 03/14/2017 12:36:14 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

In 2008, Californians approved a high-speed rail project that has become one of the largest infrastructure projects in the nation. The dream of taking a train from Southern California to San Francisco in about three hours is chugging along, but facing new barriers.

The original plan voters opted for in 2008 was titled the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. When voters approved the measure, the estimated cost of the project was $40 billion. The 2016 business plan reviewed by the Legislative Analysts Office estimated a cost of $64 billion.

WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO BREAK EVEN

If the high-speed rail system averaged 10,000 passengers per day it would take 203.8 years of passengers paying $86 for a ticket to break even with the current $64 billion cost estimate.

Note: Estimates do not include the yearly maintenance of the rail system after it is finished.

(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: boondoggle; rail
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Unexpected.
1 posted on 03/14/2017 12:36:15 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Shocking /sarcasm


2 posted on 03/14/2017 12:38:01 PM PDT by FreeAtlanta (what a mess we got ourselves into)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

End price? Probably six billion. It’ll never transport more than 500 people a day...that will be the amusing side to the story.


3 posted on 03/14/2017 12:39:18 PM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
A government project running over budget? I'm shocked, shocked!

Note: Estimates do not include the yearly maintenance of the rail system after it is finished.

How much could that be anyway? A couple hundred dollars per year?

4 posted on 03/14/2017 12:40:45 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity - Pres. Eisenhower)
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To: KarlInOhio

Admit it already that it was just a scam to redo the Sna Jose to SF line that no voter would approve face up.


5 posted on 03/14/2017 12:43:25 PM PDT by Kozy (new age haruspex; "Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth.")
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

How did this happen? OMG! Why, I never....

(This was predicted before the ink was dry on the original idea.)


6 posted on 03/14/2017 12:43:25 PM PDT by Tenacious 1 (You couldn't pay me enough to be famous for being stupid!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

> The original plan voters opted for in 2008 was titled the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. <

That’s the problem right there. It should have been called the “Safe, Reliable High-Speed Never-to-be Completed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century”.


7 posted on 03/14/2017 12:46:18 PM PDT by Leaning Right (I have already previewed or do not wish to preview this composition.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Total scam from the very beginning.


8 posted on 03/14/2017 12:46:42 PM PDT by doug from upland (Hey, traitor Democrats. I have a tree. I'm sure another FReeper has a rope.)
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To: FreeAtlanta

Unless the state mandates ridership, there is no point in building it? And for that there is chief justice Roberts.


9 posted on 03/14/2017 12:47:33 PM PDT by blackdog
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To: Willie Green

PING!


10 posted on 03/14/2017 12:50:45 PM PDT by wheresmyusa (FTUN)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“If the high-speed rail system averaged 10,000 passengers per day”

That’s IF. Just another union- scheme to make more money. We’ve seen this episode of the Sopranos with the esplanade..


11 posted on 03/14/2017 12:52:24 PM PDT by max americana (For the 9th time FIRED LIBERALS from our company at this election, and every election since 2008)
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To: pepsionice

How many stops would this train make?

Each extra stop would slow it down, of course.


12 posted on 03/14/2017 12:52:58 PM PDT by cgbg (Hidden behind the social justice warrior mask is corruption and sexual deviance.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
This project isn't about providing rapid transportation. It's about enhancing the value of land needed for right-of-way and the rest of the HSR infrastructure. Who owns or has options on that property is who this project is about.
13 posted on 03/14/2017 12:53:02 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee (A politician can't give you anything he hasn't first stolen from you.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It’s too bad someone can’t invent a way to transport people in some kind of vehicle up in the air where you can go a high speed and not require all of those rails on the ground.


14 posted on 03/14/2017 12:53:38 PM PDT by Onelifetogive (I tweet, too... @Onelifetogive)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I live in the Greenest, most granola city in Canada, and even then, 76% of people drive to work. Other words so called “environment loving” liberals do not believe in their own rhetoric enough to sacrifice their cars. In the end convenience over rules conscience.


15 posted on 03/14/2017 12:59:05 PM PDT by Sam Gamgee
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

California has always been at war with Eastasia.


16 posted on 03/14/2017 1:01:06 PM PDT by Organic Panic (Flinging poo is not a valid argument)
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To: pepsionice

HSR is a compelling mobility solution which works all over the world.


17 posted on 03/14/2017 1:04:18 PM PDT by vooch
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

64 Billion? A tax subsidy for the wealthy commuters?!

You could clothe, house, & provide healthcare for a lot of homeless for that price.

Why does CA hate the homeless??!

/s


18 posted on 03/14/2017 1:06:04 PM PDT by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: max americana

I live in California and have been tracking this scam since Diane Feinstein’s husband won the contract as major contractor. Actual estimated cost is estimated at $120 billion. There are about 12 million families in California. California could take the $120 billion and purchase a new Ford or Chevy for each of these 12 million families. That is what I would call mass transit.


19 posted on 03/14/2017 1:07:14 PM PDT by robert14
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Well bust my buttons. A regular speed rail, going from wayyyyy out of town of LA to wayyy out of SF, but first they have to tunnel through solid rock along a fault line.... and the first leg will be between central ca points that don’t need rail....

And there is NOTHING ELSE to spend our tax dollars on in this state.....


20 posted on 03/14/2017 1:11:25 PM PDT by Yaelle
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