[cgbg]

Actual construction remains years away

Which will happen first?

1. California either secedes or is kicked out of the Union.
2. High speed rail reaches San Francisco

[grobdriver]

What a fraud - but it is California...

[albie]

Oh brother. It’d cost them 40 billion just clean up the poop

[VTenigma]

Bakersfield to Merced now $1.8 billion pricier than previously calculated.

---

And that’s before any track has been installed. I’d like to see how they are going to tackle the grade up to Gilroy, that shouldn’t run into any cost over runs. Maybe they can make a giant loop like Tehachapi. High speed trains love loops.

[Red Badger]

Actual construction remains years away

How many 'Bullet Trains' are in operation now, in California?....................

[kingu]

I still have to admit, the utter folly of this high speed rail project still has the possibility of actually being useful. A line from Roseville to Sacramento to Davis to Vallejo to Oakland to San Francisco would mean that the billions a year in taxpayer subsidies wouldn't be as much of a waste. That line would probably only require $25 in subsidies per rider vs the $125 the Bakersfield to SF route would require.

Though truthfully, now all this is becoming is an expansion of Bay Area Transit at the expense of all of California. The San Jose to SF high speed train is really the ultimate goal.

[ctdonath2]

As I keep noting in many topics:
There’s good money in proposing mega-projects.
Doesn’t matter if they never come to pass (most don’t), so long as there’s a sufficient influx of funding to propose & promote the project. 80 billion dollar project? Spending just 0.01% of that on planning is $8M, giving ~10 people nice incomes for 8 years. 10x that creates a self-perpetuating group for still just 1/1000th the projected cost. They’ll do just enough to keep the project alive; completion is unnecessary for those benefiting.

[glorgau]

The project is a dead man walking, but will amble along until all money is drained into the appropriate pockets.

[Rebelbase]

Paging Willie Green!

[Zathras]

They can’t even get BART from SF to San Jose.
It took them decades to get BART to the airport.
It will never happen.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Just get Elon Musk to promise California a flying train. All problems solved. :)

[Magnatron]

[Bonemaker]

Trancontinental railroad 1,912 miles built 1863-1869.

[PGR88]

They should start with efficient regular-speed rail between LA and SF, and then go from there.

[riri]

Cool, more places for dirty needles to accumulate.

My daughter's good friend lives in San Fran. She sat next to a needle on the BART a few weeks ago.

[Kickass Conservative]

Calling them “Bullet” Trains is not acceptable.

You have to pass a Background Check to buy Ammunition (Bullets) in CA.

[Kickass Conservative]

I’m still waiting for the Las Vegas Monorail to go all the way to the Airport.

[Redcloak]

They already have a marketing campaign in mind: “Come see the poop at 200MPH!”