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More realistically, Sacramento’s Legislative Analysis Office calls the Central Valley starting point a “big gamble.” In the all-too-likely event that funding for the rest of the system never materializes, the report adds, “the state will be left with a rail segment unconnected to major urban areas that has little if any chance of generating the ridership to operate without a significant state subsidy.” It would be a train to nowhere, but at least it would go nowhere fast. As questionable as this project is, we would have less business objecting if the only money at risk was California’s. But the...

When first proposed to taxpayers in 2008, the high-speed rail project in California that would eventually link Los Angeles and San Francisco had a projected cost of $33.6 billion and a delivery date of twelve years. By May of this year, after the Obama administration tossed in $3.5 billion in stimulus money to get the project started, the cost estimate ballooned to $43 billion, the most expensive public-works project in American history. But that now looks like a bargain in contrast to the latest estimate for the bullet train, as reported by the Mercury News: Faster than a speeding bullet...

With the Golden State nearly broke, it now plans to secure funding largely by borrowing more, the Associated Press reported, though specifics were unclear. About 20 percent would come from the private sector. Until now, the state had been relying on more than $15 billion from the federal government, $10 billion from private investors and $5 billion from local governments. But the state hadn't gotten any closer to raising the money in the three years since voters approved the plan. The bullet train project, which would link San Francisco and Los Angeles with the nation's first high-speed rail line, has...

There is nothing wrong — and much that is right — with building a national monument to memorialize the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 9/11 attacks a decade ago. The awful events of that day traumatized the country — and changed it. The dead deserve to be remembered. Far be it from me to suggest otherwise. What I do want to suggest, though, is that what’s being built in the name of 9/11 — a staggering $11 billion worth of government-sponsored construction on the 16 acres we now call ground zero — is an example of just about everything...

The Tampa-to-Orlando route had obvious drawbacks: It would have linked two cities that are virtually unnavigable without cars, and that are so close that the new train would have been little faster than driving. But the Obama administration chose it anyway because it was seen as the line that could be built first. Florida had already done much of the planning, gotten many of the necessary permits and owned most of the land that would be needed. The Department of Transportation did not have that many options. Only two states, Florida and California, were deemed far enough along in their...

If you can somehow sneak into the Astrodome, first hold your nose, then look up. You won't see a lot of world championship banners. The Astrodome isn't known worldwide as "The House That Don Nottebart Built." The Astros played in the Dome from Day One in 1965 through 1999. No pennants. No World Series titles. No nothing. The Houston Oilers played in the Dome from 1968 to good riddance 1997. No championships. No Super Bowls. Close a few years, but no nothing. The Astrodome hosted a lot of great moments and wonderful memories: UCLA vs. UH basketball, Billie Jean King...

MONTREAL — No, apparently, you can't blow it up. And taking it apart would be very expensive and time-consuming. So, the City of Montreal seems to be stuck with the ill-fated Olympic Stadium, an enigma and concrete representation of government incompetence, cost overruns and crumbling infrastructure, but also an iconic city symbol, a dramatic fixture on the skyline and a major draw for tourists. It's a venue vacated by baseball's Montreal Expos who decamped for Washington, D.C., in 2004 and the CFL's Alouettes, whose new downtown digs at McGill University were recently expanded to seat 25,000. The Als, however, do...

Officials are opening for public review the plans for a magnetic-levitation train from Pittsburgh to Greensburg, marking another tiny step forward for the decade-long project. The final environmental impact statement for the proposed $5.3 billion, 54-mile Pittsburgh Maglev project was posted for public review and comment Thursday at the Port Authority of Allegheny County's office and at www.portauthority.org. The authority is managing public funding for McKeesport-based Maglev Inc. but has no role in planning or building the train. Maglev Inc. President Fred Gurney said he was waiting for federal officials' go-ahead before taking the environmental study to the public, and...

This tale begins in the small town of Nanticoke, Penn., population 9,500, where hometown Rep. Paul Kanjorski got more than $3 million federal tax dollars to build the "Kanjorski Center," an office building to attract business and help the local economy. "I'm used to getting a great deal of money for my district," Kanjorski said. But things haven't quite gone according to plan. The Kanjorski Center's main tenant moved out in 2005, and the building's been empty ever since. "How much is the city paying for the building while it's empty?" Attkisson asked Pennsylvania state Rep. John Yudichak. "The city's...

Dream of high-speed rail may prove Shanghai politician's final nightmare By Howard W. French Published: August 8, 2007 SHANGHAI: "I have a dream," Chen Liangyu, Shanghai's Communist Party secretary - since disgraced and removed from office - was fond of intoning before his aides, consciously echoing the words of Martin Luther King Jr. And as the leader of China's richest city, Chen had the power to make most of those dreams come true. The "hai" in the word Shanghai means ocean, but the city had no beach, he would lament. So city officials built a 6-mile, or 10-kilometer, beach in...

PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman Corp. will begin formal development of a new satellite communications system for the B-2 stealth bomber under Air Force approval, which was announced Wednesday. The new system ultimately will allow the bomber to send and receive battlefield information up to 100 times faster than today. The upgrades will be installed at the company's facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, where the bombers were built and where major maintenance and modification work continues. The system will use extremely high frequency, or EHF, satellite communication. The current system uses ultra high frequency, or UHF. "Upgrading the...

dilemma in Coalinga: New mental facility has space for 1,500 inmates -- but state can't lure professional staff to Central Valley- Coalinga, Fresno County -- For a state penal system all but overwhelmed by overcrowding and poor facilities, the heavily secured Coalinga State Hospital for the mentally ill would seem a rare example of something going right. Built at a cost of nearly $400 million, it opened a year ago with its brilliantly hued hallways and well outfitted gym just waiting to fill up with patients. It is still waiting. The hospital's planners seem to have thought of everything except...

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - The chief executive of Honeywell International Inc. (HON.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest maker of cockpit electronics, said on Thursday that delays in the launch of Airbus' superjumbo jet the A380 were "not a problem" for the company. "If you've spent the money to be on any platform you'd just as soon see the platform take off," David Cote, who is also Honeywell's chairman, said in an interview. "I wouldn't be happy about saying, 'Gee, all that money we spent on the A380 was wasted,' but the money's been expensed, gone, you just move...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican lawmaker influential on transportation matters said on Friday he wants Congress to prohibit U.S. airports from spending federal funds on upgrades to accommodate the European-made superjumbo Airbus A380. "Until a U.S. airline chooses to acquire and operate the passenger version of the A380, foreign airlines that operate A380 passenger service to and from the United States should pay for any needed infrastructure improvements at the airports they serve," U.S. Rep. John Mica (news, bio, voting record), a Florida Republican, said in a statement. Mica is chairman of the House of Representatives transportation subcommittee on...

Dear Fellow Stunned Observers, Mapping failure in our industry is easy. Aircraft fail due to technical reasons or market reasons or both. Technical failures include the A-12 and the Comet 1 jetliner. Market failures include the 717, F-20, and Concorde. Finding combinations of both types of failure is rare. Most of these get quashed before they leave the drawing board—like Sonic Cruiser. You need to search history for aircraft that represented both types of failure, like the Spruce Goose. I’ve always thought the A380 would be a market failure. But we might be witnessing an unusual dual market and technical...

BAE Systems was caught in the fall-out today after last night’s warning from Airbus that deliveries of its new A380 superjumbo had been put back. Shares in EADS, which owns 80% of Airbus, lost around a third of their value in Paris today, while BAE was affected as investors feared it may end up with less money from the planned sale of its 20% stake in Airbus. BAE shares were at the top of the FTSE 100 Index fallers board today with a drop of more than 3%, wiping almost £400m (€585.8m) from its market value. Engine-maker Rolls-Royce, which...

What does it take to change light bulbs on the 75-foot rotunda ceiling of the massive Secaucus rail station? First, crack a hole in the roof big enough to drive a crane through. Then, hoist a crane onto the roof using, well, another crane. Build a ramp, widen a doorway and protect the interior floor with some plywood. Then you can start thinking about unscrewing a light bulb. The $700 million Secaucus Junction station was built with no easy way to change the bulbs that surround the rotunda skylight. And as more and more lights have grown dim over the...

PALMDALE: Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed an upgrade of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber that allows the aircraft to deliver five times its previous capacity of independently targeted, “smart'' (GPS-guided) weapons. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the B-2, which remains the only long-range, large payload aircraft that can penetrate deep into protected airspace. Combined with superior airspace control provided by the F-22 Raptor and global mobility provided by tanker aircraft, the B-2 ensures an effective U.S. response to threats anywhere in the world. The SBRA upgrade program enhances the B-2's ability to respond to current and...

For months, the glass rotunda at San Jose's new city hall has tantalized passersby, beckoning them to enter. However, the chain-link fence surrounding the 108-foot dome and the cacophony of power tools told them it would be a while before they'd set foot in its soaring interior. The long wait is nearly over: On Saturday, the doors of the rotunda will be thrown open to celebrate the grand opening of the $388 million city hall complex. ``This is a unique structure. There's only one other like it in the world, and that is in Berlin,'' said city spokesman Tom Manheim,...

SINGAPORE, Aug. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- To be compensated by Airbus for the eight-month delivery delay of its first A380 aircraft is Singapore Airlines' (SIA) preferred option up to now, SIA's vice-president for Public Affairs Stephen Forshaw said on Tuesday. According to Channel NewsAsia report, SIA, the first customer of the largest commercial aircraft ever built, "has not ruled out a lawsuit against the plane manufacturer" while having compensation talks with it. SIA might ask for over 6 million US dollars, said the report. As a A380 plane has 555 seats, which is 30 percent more than a Boeing 747-400, SIA...